Leica Biosystems, the global leader in pathology workflow solutions announced today that the US Patent Office has granted it a patent for RTF, its breakthrough “Real-Time Focusing” technology (US patent 9,841,590). This will enable high volume, extremely fast line scanning of anatomic pathology slides.
“RTF technology dramatically improves slides scanning speed while delivering excellent optical focus. Extremely short scan times can now be achieved at 40x magnification,” said Jerome Clavel, General Manager of Leica Biosystems Pathology Imaging. “We have been working internally with RTF technology for quite some time. We will be integrating and commercializing RTF into our next-generation digital pathology platform shortly.”
Leica Biosystems has been testing RTF with UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), and other leading institutions worldwide to fine-tune its application in a high-volume laboratory setting.
“We are excited about the potential of RTF to significantly scale up digital pathology operations by moving high volume and high throughput scanning into the histology lab,” said Dr. W. Dean Wallace, Professor, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “By implementing RTF technology into our workflow, we will soon be able to take the next crucial step in the development of digital pathology.”
Leica Biosystems has a large global R&D footprint with 12 development centres. Its dedicated teams of engineers develop innovative technologies with the goal of enabling pathologists to efficiently make highly confident same-day diagnoses. Aperio Technologies, now part of Leica Biosystems, introduced high-speed line scanning into Digital Pathology years ago and holds a comprehensive patent portfolio for this technology in key geographies.
The statements in this press release are forward-looking and any references to projected timelines, anticipated functionality or potential claims are only speculative at this state.
Aperio digital pathology products using RTF have not been cleared for clinical diagnostic use in the U.S.A.
