Ithaca, NY (January 3, 2024) — FormaPath joins with the University at Buffalo Center for Advanced Technology in Big Data and Health Sciences (UB CAT) to announce their collaboration to further test and develop AdiPress, an automated lymph node dissection device.
The UB CAT program is a cost-sharing grant program funded by Empire State Development's Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) program, designed to drive the growth of life and health science businesses in New York State.
FormaPath and Dr. John Tomaszewski, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Chair of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, will use AdiPress to conduct comprehensive analyses of tissue specimens to identify and create lymph node-rich samples. This work will lead to the eventual creation of a digital lymph node database, which will allow FormaPath to explore computational methods—including AI—that identify and analyze lymph nodes with metastatic disease.
It is FormaPath’s vision that in the future, automated preparation and AI review of tissue will be a fully integrated process. The creation of this database serves as the starting point for assessing the impact of automated preparation on AI-driven diagnostics.
AdiPress automates dissection for specimens where lymph nodes need to be isolated from adipose tissue. AdiPress uses Automated Compressive Filtration – a proprietary process – to precisely compress any fatty specimen to remove a filtrate of liquid fatty fluid, creating a lymph node-rich tissue sample, arranged in square sections using LymFilter containers for further processing and analysis.
“The opportunity to collaborate with leading, academic researchers in the field of cancer pathology is critical to our plans for expanding the utility of AdiPress. Currently validated for colorectal cancer, this project with UB will establish the parameters for automated lymph node dissection in other solid tumor settings where nodal assessment is a key step in assigning the stage to drive downstream therapy planning. We are thrilled to work with Dr. Tomaszewski– and his team on this important study”, according to Ted Snelgrove, CEO at FormaPath.
About UB CAT
The Center for Advanced Technology in Big Data and Health Sciences (UB CAT) advances university-industry collaboration to drive the development of new technologies and grow life and health sciences businesses in New York State. The program is managed by the University at Buffalo’s Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships team and funded by Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR).
Learn more about UB CAT: https://www.buffalo.edu/partnerships/about/programs/ub_cat.html