Massachusetts General Hospital and Philips are embarking on a clinical analytical study to gauge the effectiveness of digital alternatives for pathology work.
The project will assess Philips’ IntelliSite digital pathology whole slide imaging technology to determine IntelliSite’s effectiveness in detecting disease.
“With rising healthcare costs, we have a public responsibility to work effectively,” Jochen K. Lennerz, MD, principal investigator of the study and an Assistant in Pathology at Mass General’s Center for Integrated Diagnostics, said in a statement. “Through the genomic revolution we have started to learn how to manage big data. Now there is a pressing need to gain access to and increase flexibility in how pathologists manage the massive amounts of imaging data we procure every day.”
If digital whole slide imaging gets cleared for diagnostic use, it would replace the analog process widely practiced today and enable pathologists to switch to a digital system for their routine work.
Pathologists play a critical role in the detection and diagnosis of a wide variety of diseases, including cancer.
[Also: Mount Sinai to digitize glass slides]
Here’s how the analog process works today, according to Philips executives: Most tissue-based diagnoses are rendered through analysis performed on a microscope using sections on glass slides. Once interpreted by a pathologist, they inform the final treatment pathway that has a significant impact on the patient and their families. In the process, providers often have to ship the glass slide samples for expert consults, running the risk for lost or damaged specimens and communication delays.
Philips general manager of digital pathology solutions Russell Granzow added that digitizing pathology can streamline workflows to improve efficiencies that can, in turn, be scaled internally to reduce costs.
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