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                                   Location Guided Screening  

  FocalPoint™ GS Workstation

The BD FocalPoint™ GS Workstation consists of an automatic x, y stage, a computer, a camera and a high-resolution flat screen monitor. It can be fitted to most standard microscopes, which are already used in the laboratory.

Using the data produced by the BD FocalPoint™ Slide Profiler it guides the screener to the areas of possible abnormality. The BD FocalPoint™ GS Workstation is not required to be connected directly to the  BD FocalPoint™ Slide Profiler since the data can be transferred with the slides by portable hard drive or Virtual Private Network. This permits the screeners and BD FocalPoint™ GS Workstation to be located off site if required

 The BD FocalPoint™ GS Workstation can also be connected directly to the Laboratory Information System if the BD FocalPoint™ Slide Profiler is installed within the laboratory

When not being used with the BD FocalPoint™ GS Workstation the pathologist and screeners have full manual control of the microscope as normal

When the first slide of the day is placed on the stage the screener must calibrate the BD FocalPoint™ GS Workstation by locating the edge of the slide. This is  only required  once each day, as the BD FocalPoint™ GS Workstation will remain calibrated  for all other slides screened that day.

 

When a slide is placed on the BD FocalPoint™ GS Workstation the bar code is read and the automated stage moves first to a field location dot. This location dot is a large clump of easily recognised cells that are also displayed on the screen. These are not for diagnosis but an additional check that the area being reviewed is correct and the slide has been calibrated correctly.  An offset button can then be used to fine-tune the calibration if required at this point

 

The BD FocalPoint™ GS Workstation then moves the automatic stage to the first field of view [FOV], which the BD FocalPoint™ Slide Profiler determined has the greatest potential of abnormality. The screener then makes their interpretation using the microscope with full use of all objectives

The automated stage then moves the slide to the second FOV, which is again reviewed normally, and this is repeated for all 10 FOV's. It has been reported by European users that the average time needed to screen a SurePath™ slide is just over 1 minute, and that the false negative rate is reduced due to directed screening.

 

 

If the screener does not identify abnormal cells in any of the 10 FOV's the remainder of the slide is not required to be screened. The slide is then signed out and the next slide scanned on the BD FocalPoint™ GS Workstation. If a possible abnormality is identified then the whole slide is screened by using the normal controls on the microscope to manually move the stage or to use an alternative magnification.

 

The screener is able to electronically mark areas of interest and track the progress of the marked slide areas during slide review.

 

All the data is automatically saved on the BD FocalPoint™ GS Workstation. This information is accessible to checkers and pathologists when reporting abnormal cases. Any additional FOV added are colour-coded to indicate screener, checker or pathologist origin. Following sign out of a case results can be exported to the laboratories information system and incorporated into specific case history

All data including FOV images can be archived and stored for future use