AI-Powered fecal analysis for parasites

Sponsored by INDICAL BIOSCIENCE

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA: Hey everyone, welcome to Products360. Doctor Adam Christman here, chief editor officer at DVM 360. We're live here at Fetch, Kansas City. We want to thank our friends at Indical for supporting this great conversation. And joining me is…

Douglas Marthaler: I'm Dr. Marthaler, Director of Science and Technology with Indical. I'm an infectious disease specialist.

Christman: Excellent. Thank you for being here. So, we are bringing AI to the veterinary space. Tell us a little bit about what that looks like.

Marthaler: We're harnessing the power of AI technology and we're being able to look at the morphology of eggs through a microscope. And we're using the AI in the cloud to call those eggs and identify those eggs.

Christman: OK. And what types of parasites are we looking for?

Marthaler: We're looking for all common parasites in cats and dogs. And then we also have a system available for large animals. So that would be ovine, bovine, and equine.

Christman: OK. And we have the machine here. We have OvaCyte here so tell us about it. 

Marthaler: The OvaCyte system is very small. The sample prep is relatively simple and easy to use.

Christman: It looks like an espresso machine, right?

Marthaler: That's what I tell a lot of my colleagues when I'm out in the clinics. This is like a little espresso machine, except for we're looking at feces.

Christman: But, all in a good way because space is a commodity in vet med and this does not take up a lot of counter space, which is fantastic. So, tell us a little bit how it works.

Marthaler: So, it's got a very simple sample prep. What we're going to do is we're going to grab the feces. Put it into the tube. We’re going to aspirate up our float solution. Drop it in, dislodge the feces. Break it up. Just take it out. And then we’re going to go ahead and put it back in this cassette. We're going to fill the cassette. It's a little ring that goes around the sides and then we just drop it on the device, and we hit start.

Christman: And as a technician or veterinarian—from start to finish, how much time is involved with this?

Marthaler: Yeah. So, the hands-on time is about 60 seconds to do that prep, to grab that feces, put it in the tube, and drop it on the instrument. It's about 60 seconds. And then the run time is less than 20 minutes. So that again is just completely walk away, you drop, walk away and never have to come back until you're ready to run that next sample. And you can have that one ready sitting while that one is running.

Christman: So, I'm thinking about workflow utilization, technicians, we're always so busy. I'm imagining by the time they run that sample, I go into the exam room, I do the physical exam, we'll have the results.

Marthaler: Exactly, exactly. The great thing, too, is once the technician or the doctor has dropped the cassette on the analyzer, they don't have to come back. Those results are gonna kick back up in the cloud. And then they can just go to the front desk and grab them and bring them back to the office while the patient is in the room.

Christman: I think of the new puppy exam, the kitten exams, and sometimes on Fridays they don't get the results back till Monday. We worry about zoonotic diseases and we're treating right then and there.

Marthaler: That's right. We don't have to blanket treat. We can test before we treat and get those results before they walk out that door. It saves time for the patient too because they don't have to come back and actually get those meds.

Christman: Yeah. Yes. Right, absolutely. What if I'm off for some reason and I want to check the stool sample. Is it cloud based? Am I able to do that?

Marthaler: You mean you don't just work in the lab or in the clinic every day? You know, you're not at home checking emails? Yeah, I know. That's a great question. It's a cloud-based system. All those results are on the cloud. So even though they're on the analyzer, those images are on the cloud so you can pull it up on your phone, your tablet, or even your computer when you're out and about. 

Christman: I know we talked a lot about access to care and this is accessible. It could be a one doctor practice. It could be a large doctor practice, right?

Marthaler: That's exactly right. You know, when we're designing this system, we wanted to make sure it was accessible to any science clinic. So that's why we made the small footprint because we know spaces. You know some veterinarians have mentioned, “can I put this in my exam room and actually run it right there and do that educational piece as well with the patient?”

Christman: And I also think of it's a great opportunity for lunch and learns for your staff to learn about this, how AI technology is rapidly evolving and helping as a tool to effectively diagnose and manage our patient care with greater outcomes. I know we previously mentioned sensitivity. So, walk me through about what makes this so sensitive in parasite detection.

Marthaler: When we designed the system, we were really worried about having false negatives. We know that there are a lot of methods out there that do generate false results. So, you're missing that positive that could lead to the zoonosis between patient and your family. We are sensitive compared to the other reference methods and we do that with three different ways. So, we have a closed system. All your eggs are in the system and get transferred to the cassette. So higher recovery than what is traditionally done. The second is that we do an agitation motion on the device. It’s all those eggs are floating to the top, debris settling to the bottom. And then the third is with the AI technology. We can train that AI that technology to have better discrimination than what a human eye can do. And then also we have those trained parasitologists behind the scenes looking and verifying as well.

Christman: Excellent, excellent. So how many are in the pack?

Marthaler: Yeah, that's a great question. Forty come in a kit and what comes in that pack is you get 40 of these sample preps and this I forgot to say is one and done. Once you use it, throw it away, never have to come back to it. You'll have your cassette here as well that you fill in and that again is one and done. Throw it away. Then it comes with that float solution and then it also comes with those scans. So, you're not just paying for the sample prep, you're also paying for that scan. So being able to get those results and everything as well.

Christman: OK. Excellent. And I just love that we're finally getting AI technology in the veterinary space and it's constantly evolving, which is cool, I think. 

Marthaler: Exactly, exactly. This system continually will evolve as you are evolving with your clinic. We can add new parasites onto the system relatively easy. We're always updating, always trying to push the envelope. We're always trying to do better in diagnostics. That's our goal as a company.

Christman: I always think as a veterinarian, every pet deserves a stool sample. We always say even if they have diarrhea, something so simple, let's just rule out the basic intestinal parasites. And of course, for their wellness. But it's nice to have this machine where it doesn't take long to get those results. And you can kind of mark that off your differential diagnosis list. 

Marthaler: I agree.

Christman: Tell us about Indical.

Marthaler: Yeah, so, Indical is a diagnostic company. We've been around for 30 years. We have really good reputation in the large animal space. So, we've been supporting those veterinary diagnostic labs all around the US and globally, I should say. And then we have point of need systems including Rapids and the OvaCyte device for small animals.

Christman: Excellent, and where can we learn more?

Marthaler: Yeah, you can learn more at Indical. So just Google us and you’ll find us right away on your first hit.

Christman: Thank you so much for joining us and thank you for tuning in here at Products360. And we'll see you next time.