HistoWiz
Digitization and Discovery with HistoWiz

Founded in 2013 to give researchers quick access to their histology results, today HistoWiz is transforming histopathology through the automation, digitization, and analysis of histology data. The company offers an extensive range of histology services, which have evolved beyond its initial focus on core histology slide preparation and scanning to include immunohistochemistry (IHC), in situ hybridization (ISH/FISH), immunofluorescence (IF), slide scanning, and block storage along with pathologist and image analysis consultative services.

A key feature of HistoWiz’s operational model is its commitment to workflow automation, which has optimized processes to enable industry-leading turnaround times for its clients, including biotech companies, contract research organizations (CROs), pharmaceutical corporations, and academic entities. HistoWiz is at the forefront of the digitization of pathology with its fully digital platform, allowing clients quick online access to their digital images along with the ability to sort, manage, and annotate their slides and share online with their research teams to advance their discoveries faster than even before.

PathologyMap™: Game-Changer

HistoWiz stands out as a CRO not only because of its high quality histopathology services but due to its proprietary PathologyMap™ platform, the premiere online platform that offers comprehensive digital management of pathology data, including viewing, searching, tagging, collaboration, and analysis and storage capabilities.

PathologyMap™ is browser-based, eliminating the need for installations and ensuring seamless use with minimal latency, contingent on a fast internet connection. The platform supports the efficient viewing of digital pathology slides, even when they reach sizes of one to two gigabytes. Linh Hoang, Ph.D., MD and CEO of HistoWiz, emphasizes, “PathologyMap is the heart of HistoWiz. Our laboratory teams prep our client’s slides and scan them into our digital platform allowing for downstream analysis whether here at HistoWiz or anywhere around the world.”

Leveraging Downstream Analysis

As pathologists prioritize clinical matters, the duration of slide readings continues to increase for research. However, its team of over 135 on-demand pathologists streamlines this critical research with access to numerous sub-specialty pathologists specializing in neurology, toxicology, immuno-oncology, and musculoskeletal disease. The result is an exceptionally swift turnaround time for its customers–typically three days for expedited orders and ten days for standard turnaround time from order acceptance.

Inquiries span a wide range, from standard human and mouse models to unconventional ones like coral reefs. It can tap into the knowledge of top experts across various fields, ensuring comprehensive coverage and support for clients. HistoWiz’s pathology consultation group has performed thousands of studies including primary, secondary, and peer review. Its expansive network of pathologists and new interactive report is gaining attention from both US-based and international clients, “This new interactive report is a game-changer. Every piece of data and annotation is in the report, and customers can view all data with just a click,” says Julie Feldstein, MD and Chief Pathologist at HistoWiz.

Advancing Research through Digital Collaboration

The shift toward digital pathology represents a change in conducting research. Customers can collaborate more effectively, sharing digital slides with peers and integrating links to full-slide images in their publications—a feature highly regarded by academic journals. These digital slides lay the groundwork for developing advanced tools, from image analysis to artificial intelligence applications, marking a significant leap forward in research capabilities compared to traditional methods.

The digital platform accelerates, simplifies, and enhances online review of pathology slides, addressing challenges posed by collaboration with clients in the US and internationally.

In one instance, a client required a significant volume of archive prostate biopsies, necessitating the expertise of subspecialized G.U. fellowship-trained pathologists. HistoWiz engaged nearly seven G.U. pathologists and annotated up to 7,000 slides within a few months.

Enhancing the User Experience

The company’s inception was driven by the urgent need to expedite tissue processing, particularly in response to investigators facing tight deadlines for funding submissions and pharmaceutical companies navigating regulatory timelines. By working as a partner with its clients, HistoWiz is continuously looking for new ways to offer new products and services. The many recent enhancements to the PathologyMap digital management platform has simplified pathology research and given researchers unprecedented access to qualitative and quantitative interpretation right at their fingertips.

HistoWiz’s innovative approach to histology services, underpinned by its commitment to automation and digital pathology, sets a new standard in preclinical research. As the research community navigates challenges, HistoWiz’s role as a rapid, collaborative, and cutting-edge research facilitator becomes indispensable.