HORIBA Introduces New Quality Slide Program (QSP) Service

Hematology specialists, HORIBA UK Ltd – Medical, has introduced a new innovative service, The Quality Slide Program (QSP). Launched in France in 2012 to meet ISO guidelines for laboratory accreditation in blood film review and already used by over 40 laboratories, this program is now available in the UK.

QSP is a digital blood cell morphology QC and training program. With the software, 6 digital blood films are published for download each month. Slides have a pre-classified differential with morphology comments. This pre-classification is verified or amended by the morphology expert or trainer in the laboratory, who can then ‘set’ slides for review by staff working on the morphology bench.

The software itself, based on HORIBA Medical’s digital morphology platform, HemaCAM, is highly interactive and intuitive. It is possible to view high and low power blood cell images, pan in and zoom out using a mouse and drag and drop cells for classification. Participating staff must perform a manual differential and can make comments either on the film generally or individual cells using selectable comments or free text. Once submitted, the results are compared to the pre-verified blood film and the software will produce an individual report, highlighting any differences or areas of weakness. This report can be used as a competency assessment or a training aid.

The downloadable blood films remain accessible on the program which can also be used for more general training sessions. A library of digital blood films can be created containing normal slides, WBC, RBC and platelet pathologies.

QSP helps standardize an area of the laboratory where results may sometimes be subjective. Continued improvements to FBC technology over the years has led to low blood film review rates, however this has resulted in the reduction of experience, staff confidence and subsequently a skills gap in hematology morphology review. QSP helps to overcome these challenges by improving training in blood film morphology and providing a means of assessing staff competencies. This program is accredited by the IBMS and offers 1 CPD point per slide.