Season 2, Episode 17

In Search of The Standard File Format

This episode's guest:

Yves Sucaet, PhD

This episode of Digital Pathology Today™ our guest is Yves Sucaet, PhD, CEO, CTO, and Co-founder Pathomation

We hear that multiple file formats or perhaps, more importantly, lack of a uniform file format seems to be a big issue in digital pathology. Why is this? What do we even mean by a file format? And will we be able to overcome this barrier on the road to full scale adoption of digital pathology?

We discuss why there are multiple file formats and the challenges this causes. Do different types of applications necessitate different file formats? (i.e. 2d vs. 3-d imaging, H&E staining vs. fluorescence?) How does evolving technology and new vendor specific applications create problems? And of course, DICOM seems to be the most talked about format. Why has it become the standard in radiology but not pathology?

More About Yves Sucaet, PhD,

Yves Sucaet, PhD,

Co-founder, CEO, and CTO

Pathomation

Dr. Yves Sucaet holds a PhD in Bioinformatics from Iowa State University. His research background is in systems and network biology. Before that, he was a yeast geneticist at Troy University. Even further back, he holds a BS in Applied Computer Science.

In 2010, Dr. Yves Sucaet joined HistoGeneX, a contract research organization (CRO) in Antwerp (Belgium), in the function of Section Head Data Management & Bioinformatics. At a conference in Baltimore in 2012, he became intrigued with the idea of applying bioinformatics algorithms to virtualized microscopic material (whole slide images).

Back in Belgium, he went on to co-found Pathomation, together with Dr. Wim Waelput and Dr. Mark Kockx. The mission of Pathomation is to provide software (middleware) for digital pathology, allowing any organization to efficiently implement any digital pathology workflow imaginable.

At Pathomation. Dr. Sucaet currently fulfills the combined roles of CEO and CTO. For his efforts, he was recognized by his alma mater in 2016 and received their “alumni of the year” award.