162: How Color Impacts Every Diagnosis |Color Calibration in Digital Pathology w/ Tom Kimpe (Barco) and Monika Lamba Saini

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What if up to 35% of the diagnostic color data on your pathology slides never reaches your eyes—just because of your monitor? In this episode, sponsored by Barco, I sit down with Dr. Monika Lamba Saini (ADC Therapeutics) and Tom Kimpe (Barco) to uncover why color calibration in digital pathology isn’t optional anymore—it’s critical for diagnosis, efficiency, and AI readiness.

Highlights:

• [00:03:42] Monika’s path from CROs to biopharma and why color consistency matters in clinical trials.
• [00:09:22] What “color science” means in pathology and why color is one-third of diagnosis.
• [00:12:40] When the same tissue looks different across labs and scanners—and how this causes diagnostic conflicts.
• [00:16:19] Why HER2 scoring and IHC rely on color intensity—and how poor color fidelity lowers diagnostic confidence.
• [00:18:34] Research showing up to 35% of H&E slide colors fall outside of the sRGB color space—meaning you never see them on a standard monitor.
• [00:22:23] Where the biggest sources of color variability occur across the imaging chain come from.
• [00:26:26] Calibrated displays and pathologist speed—why confidence = faster reads.
• [00:35:19] How monitors degrade over time and why calibration is essential.
• [00:41:27] Why choosing a monitor based on price is short-sighted—and the real ROI of medical-grade displays.
• [00:43:45] ICC profiles explained: the missing piece in end-to-end color consistency.
• [00:52:48] Training pathologists on color literacy and internal calibration strategies.
• [01:00:10] How color variability affects AI algorithm accuracy—up to a 30% drop if scanners differ.
• [01:14:57] The role of professional societies in building color literacy and regulatory guidance.
• [01:22:30] Final takeaways: if you’re skeptical about calibration, here’s why you should care.

Resources from this Episode

• FDA Research by Cheng – H&E slide colors beyond sRGB Reproducible Color Gamut of Hematoxylin and Eosin Stained Images in Standard Color Space. 
• Barco White Paper – The Importance of Color in Modern Pathology.
• Barco eBook – Digital Pathology: What Are The Benefits
• Barco MDPC-8127 Monitor – Medical-grade display optimized for pathology.
  
  

Digital Pathology 101 (by me, Dr. Aleksandra Zuraw) – Free PDF & Amazon print edition.

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