PIRO: A web-based search platform for pathology reports, leveraging large language models to generate discrete searchable insights

Pathologists rely on access to historical diagnostic case texts for research, education, and peer learning. However, many laboratory information systems (LIS), including Epic Beaker, lack optimized search tools tailored to pathology-specific text queries. To address this need, we developed PIRO (Pat...

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Main Authors: Scott Robertson, Venkata Koppireddy, Jeremy Cumbo, Hooman Rashidi, Samer Albahra
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-04-01
Series:Journal of Pathology Informatics
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2153353925000215
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author Scott Robertson
Venkata Koppireddy
Jeremy Cumbo
Hooman Rashidi
Samer Albahra
author_facet Scott Robertson
Venkata Koppireddy
Jeremy Cumbo
Hooman Rashidi
Samer Albahra
author_sort Scott Robertson
collection DOAJ
description Pathologists rely on access to historical diagnostic case texts for research, education, and peer learning. However, many laboratory information systems (LIS), including Epic Beaker, lack optimized search tools tailored to pathology-specific text queries. To address this need, we developed PIRO (Pathology Information Retrieval Optimizer), a web-based platform enabling efficient text searches of diagnostic archives. Built using FastAPI, Angular, and Apache Solr, PIRO supports both basic and advanced search functionalities, faceted filtering, and data extraction, while ensuring compliance with institutional privacy protocols. PIRO's capabilities extend to case cohort building, search result export, and secure access control within the institutional network. In an 8-month study, we observed significantly higher PIRO adoption rates (67 %) among pathologists compared to Epic Beaker's SlicerDicer (9 %), underscoring PIRO's usability and relevance. Additionally, we implemented a large language model (LLM) to annotate reports with a “Malignancy Risk” label, enhancing search precision and enabling future expansion of automated annotations. Ongoing work focuses on integrating PIRO with our digital pathology platform, enabling direct access to digital slides from case results. PIRO's adaptable design makes it applicable across institutions, advancing search and retrieval efficiency in pathology archives and enhancing support for pathology research and education.
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spelling doaj-art-fa2a9fa4f9bc4c6ab1d0a0f1c9955f762025-08-20T03:13:30ZengElsevierJournal of Pathology Informatics2153-35392025-04-011710043610.1016/j.jpi.2025.100436PIRO: A web-based search platform for pathology reports, leveraging large language models to generate discrete searchable insightsScott Robertson0Venkata Koppireddy1Jeremy Cumbo2Hooman Rashidi3Samer Albahra4Center for Diagnostics and Artificial Intelligence, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, 9500 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA; Corresponding author.Center for Diagnostics and Artificial Intelligence, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, 9500 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44195, USACenter for Diagnostics and Artificial Intelligence, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, 9500 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44195, USAComputational Pathology and AI Center of Excellence (CPACE), University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, 200 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USACenter for Diagnostics and Artificial Intelligence, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, 9500 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44195, USAPathologists rely on access to historical diagnostic case texts for research, education, and peer learning. However, many laboratory information systems (LIS), including Epic Beaker, lack optimized search tools tailored to pathology-specific text queries. To address this need, we developed PIRO (Pathology Information Retrieval Optimizer), a web-based platform enabling efficient text searches of diagnostic archives. Built using FastAPI, Angular, and Apache Solr, PIRO supports both basic and advanced search functionalities, faceted filtering, and data extraction, while ensuring compliance with institutional privacy protocols. PIRO's capabilities extend to case cohort building, search result export, and secure access control within the institutional network. In an 8-month study, we observed significantly higher PIRO adoption rates (67 %) among pathologists compared to Epic Beaker's SlicerDicer (9 %), underscoring PIRO's usability and relevance. Additionally, we implemented a large language model (LLM) to annotate reports with a “Malignancy Risk” label, enhancing search precision and enabling future expansion of automated annotations. Ongoing work focuses on integrating PIRO with our digital pathology platform, enabling direct access to digital slides from case results. PIRO's adaptable design makes it applicable across institutions, advancing search and retrieval efficiency in pathology archives and enhancing support for pathology research and education.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2153353925000215SearchPathology reportsFull-textUnstructured textLarge language model
spellingShingle Scott Robertson
Venkata Koppireddy
Jeremy Cumbo
Hooman Rashidi
Samer Albahra
PIRO: A web-based search platform for pathology reports, leveraging large language models to generate discrete searchable insights
Journal of Pathology Informatics
Search
Pathology reports
Full-text
Unstructured text
Large language model
title PIRO: A web-based search platform for pathology reports, leveraging large language models to generate discrete searchable insights
title_full PIRO: A web-based search platform for pathology reports, leveraging large language models to generate discrete searchable insights
title_fullStr PIRO: A web-based search platform for pathology reports, leveraging large language models to generate discrete searchable insights
title_full_unstemmed PIRO: A web-based search platform for pathology reports, leveraging large language models to generate discrete searchable insights
title_short PIRO: A web-based search platform for pathology reports, leveraging large language models to generate discrete searchable insights
title_sort piro a web based search platform for pathology reports leveraging large language models to generate discrete searchable insights
topic Search
Pathology reports
Full-text
Unstructured text
Large language model
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2153353925000215
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