The system development is envisioned in three phases. Second high resolution, whole slide images of all blocks will be added using the Interscope imaging system. Finally, gene expression data in the form of micro-array results will be integrated with the textual and morphologic data. This year will present the textual database. The system supports demographic, epidemiologic, clinical, treatment and outcomes data on each patient as well as pathology tissue data down to the block level.
All data is structured, enumerated and reviewed by a tissue bank pathologist.
The system is implemented in the UPMC Pathology Tissue Bank where it is replacing to earlier databases. Over the next year the system will be developed to support tissue banks at other institutions as part of Oracle Health Care s Cancer Care product as well as a stand alone application.