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Biotech / Medical : Neopath (NPTH)

NPTH 0.000600

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Mar 7 3:00 PM EST

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To: Sigmund who wrote (120)	4/10/1998 7:55:00 PM
From: Cytotekk	Read Replies (2) of 178

Sigmund-you call automated image analysis of pap smears a non economically justified expense. What is your experience with pap smear screening human frailty? I have been a cytology supervisor for 18 years and have screened behind over 70 cytotechnologists and pathologist in my career. I can tell you that this expense is absolutely justified! I have sicken by the screening misses and misdiagnosis that are rampant in my profession. I can not even discuss the misses I have found except to tell you that some have serious/cancerous changes that are sometimes all over the smear! Negative slides are called timebombs, when we have to pull a negative for review we know that even the best of us can miss cells obscured by blood or inflammation, also we are screening at a speed that can cause us to miss certain abnormalities. We do not have the unlimited time that so called trial experts have to pour over a a trial smear looking for any small changes. Also, the ultimate diagnosis is subjective, what is referred by some techs is dismissed by others. The $4.00 per pap charge for a machine that is never tired or distracted and does not blink is totally justified. As for techs losing their jobs, I can only hope that the 25-30% of techs that I would fire will be the ones to lose their jobs. Excellent techs are few and far between. The same mediocrity that exists in other professions exists in techs and pathologists. Neopath will become the standard of care even at a low 25% primary signout rate. The FDA panel has recommended that rate and I believe they will approve it soon. By the way, Neopath is developing tissue imaging capabilities as well and already has a autodotter ready for use. In a perfect world the autopap will screen and the best techs will review. Papnet is a system that is too costly and the same mediocre/bad tech that misinterprets atypia at the microscopes are doomed to misinterpret atypia at a computer screen. Also the papnet is incredibly labor intensive and is not cost effective for on site image analysis. Enough said. Neopath has suffered from being turned down by the FDA reviewing panel the first time round and from a JAMA article dismissing all automated screening. The author likes to see himself in print but obviously knows little about cytotechnologist errors. Neopath is a good buy at current prices, it is just a matter of time before the stock is at previous $30.00 levels.

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