Royal Philips, a global leader in health technology, announced Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), both members of the Partners HealthCare network, will implement the Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution to enable research and support clinical diagnosis. Leveraging Philips’ comprehensive portfolio of advanced digital pathology solutions, MGH and BWH aim to deploy digital pathology infrastructures to enable digital pathology research, education and collaboration and to help shape and inform the deployment of digital pathology across the country by establishing best practices and protocols.
The framework of the collaboration will include establishment of digital pathology centers, each defined and structured around common underlying themes that span the entire digital pathology space, including user interface design, analytics, education and the economics of digital pathology. Specific skills and resources will be assembled to promote effective execution of projects in these different areas and will include collaboration of Partners personnel and Philips engineers and scientists.
“Bringing together two large academic institutions that share the goal of investing in pathology’s future, marks a turning point in digital pathology in the US,” said Jeff Golden, MD, Chair of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “There is tremendous opportunity not only to improve lab efficiency through increased access to information and images that eliminates the chance of materials being lost, broken, or misfiled, but also to dramatically enhance patient care through the deployment of advanced algorithms.”
Digital pathology is a novel approach to diagnosis that incorporates digital images of tissue into the pathology workflow rather than visual examination of the slide by a microscope. Gaining momentum in recent years, digital pathology features a highly automated workflow that allows pathologists to compile clinically actionable information in a timely manner and enables the easy sharing of images for enhanced collaboration.
As the first and only digital pathology solution marketed for primary diagnostic use in the US, the Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution assists pathologists in the managing, scanning, storing, presenting, reviewing, and sharing of information across labs and lab networks. Philips’ agreement with MGH and BWH includes leveraging the Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution to empower greater collaboration between pathologists and access to expert opinions on patient cases, and the development of teaching and training sets to educate pathologists around the globe about the innovative technologies and processes involved in digital pathology.
“Leading the digital transformation in anatomic pathology is key to evolving the field to better meet the needs of patients and pathologists,” said David Louis, MD, Pathologist-in-Chief, Massachusetts General Hospital. “Determining how to integrate intelligent technology into workflows is a first step to change how pathologists work on a day to day basis and to allow for the introduction and development of artificial intelligence (AI) in diagnostic anatomic pathology.”
“Digital pathology helps labs and health systems improve the speed and quality of diagnoses through streamlining workflows and enhancing connection to expert opinions around the world to complement a pathologist’s individual expertise,” said Marlon Thompson, General Manager, Philips Digital Pathology Solutions. “Partnering with MGH and BWH will help expand the adoption of digital pathology and allow more institutions to collaborate and see the true benefits of automated technology in pathology.”
Designed to be interoperable with various information systems, the Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution features an ultra-fast pathology slide scanner, image management system and display, which work together to unify relevant patient data and streamline pathologists’ workflows. The solution was recently awarded the 2017 POPULAR SCIENCE “Best of What’s New Award” in the Health category, recognizing Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution’s significant step forward in imaging diagnostics.