Omnyx Licenses Olympus Digital Pathology Patents

Omnyx Licenses Olympus Digital Pathology Patents:

Olympus America Inc. has signed a nonexclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Omnyx, LLC, a joint venture of GE Healthcare and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, allowing Omnyx to access an extensive portfolio of Olympus America patents in the field of virtual microscopy and digital pathology, to help develop solutions in the digital pathology field. The agreement helps clear the path for future imaging and data handling technologies that may one day facilitate the way doctors review and manage millions of biopsy slides and other pathology specimens now handled using glass slides and traditional optical microscopes.

The patents involved in the licensing agreement cover software and technology related to creating, storing and delivering virtual microscopy images. Virtual microscope slides enable professionals to review biopsies and other pathology images without handling traditional glass slides, and allow doctors to share high-resolution digital microscope images over the Internet for remote pathology consultation.

Aperio has licensed these patents also, from the portfolio original developed by Bacus Labs, which is now part of Olympus.  This seems to foreshadow the increasing importance of intellectual property as the digital pathology market matures.