DynamX

Summary: DynamX is developing a biopsy triaging and stratification system, Solas. Solas has been developed for gastroenterology (GI) pathology and can identify healthy samples with high accuracy (99% specificity 52% sensitivity) within seconds using infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). It fits within existing workflows and can be operated in-clinic (at point of care) with minimal training (low disruption, low barriers to adoption). Solas will reduce the total number of samples within pathology by approximately 50%. Solas will greatly reduce demand on pathology services, elevating current system stress.  We project that Solas will produce an average annual saving of £135 million, for UK healthcare providers. Further, it enables a faster turnaround of samples, giving patients a better service (approximately 320,000 results per annum immediately returned at point of care), less stress and a greater peace of mind.

Need: Pathology requests are steadily rising, yet histopathology capacity is failing to keep pace, and increased time requirements for sample analysis is exacerbating the problem. The impacts of this capacity shortfall are already being felt, with growing backlogs in pathology. The majority of UK Trusts report amber or red KPIs for 7/10-day pathology result turnaround and the number of patients waiting more than 6 weeks for a diagnosis has increased at ~17% per year. The staff shortfall is predicted to snowball, with the Royal College of Pathologists expecting 32% of cellular pathologists to retire by 2022. Immediate intervention is required to prevent a catastrophic collapse of this core service.

Value: Pathology is vital to cancer diagnostics and treatment but services are on the verge of collapse due to increasing demand, an aging workforce, and lack of trainees. Consequently, pathology is becoming more expensive for providers. >90% of biopsy specimens collected are healthy. DynamX is developing a point of care biopsy triaging system, Solas, which will reduce pathology workflow by ~50%. Solas is in development for gastrointestinal pathology and can identify healthy samples with high accuracy (99% sp) in seconds, reducing the number of samples requiring more expensive testing. It integrates with existing workflows with minimal disruption and low barriers to adoption.