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Montreal, Canada - At the College of American Pathologists 2009 annual meeting (October 11-14, Washington DC, USA), Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) will announce that it is developing integrated digital solutions for the medical pathology domain. Already a world leader in radiology information systems (RIS) and picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) for medical images generated, for example, in radiology and cardiology departments, Philips has now designed sophisticated digital pathology solutions to ease the workload and support decision making in central and hospital-based pathology departments.
One way that pathologists diagnose and characterize disease is by
examining tissue samples removed from patients. The
vast majority of cancer diagnoses are made or
confirmed by a pathologist. By digitizing the images
that pathologists normally view through a
microscope, Philips’ goal is to bring the digital
switchover benefits currently enjoyed by radiology
departments to this second very important area of
disease diagnosis.
 Prototype slide scanner
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Key to the successful implementation of digital
pathology solutions are systems that are designed
around the needs of the user, that are easy to use,
and that seamlessly fit into existing workflows.
Philips is addressing these critical requirements by
working closely with leading pathologists in the USA
and Europe. The Philips system comprises a
high-throughput pathology slide scanner and
high-capacity image storage and viewing system, plus
advanced software for feature recognition and
analysis.
“With a much higher proportion of people living to
old age, there will be many more sick people in the
world,” commented Bob van Gemen, General Manager of
Philips Digital Pathology. “Coupled with a
world-wide shortage of skilled pathologists and the
trend towards more pathology tests per patient,
there is a real need to improve the efficiency of
pathology departments by speeding up procedures and
helping pathologists in their decision making and
reporting.”
As is already happening with digital radiology,
digitization in the pathology workflow also opens up
new ways of working. It could enable pathology labs
to organize themselves more efficiently by
concentrating activities where they are most
appropriate. For example, it would no longer be
essential to locate lab technicians and pathologists
alongside one another in the same facility. By
making themselves more efficient, pathology labs
could perform more diagnoses with the same number of
pathologists. Moreover, seeking the expert opinion
of external specialists could no longer involve
physically sending slides to them.
Philips is already working with leading pathology
departments to evaluate the benefits of the system
in clinical environments. Nevertheless, it still
welcomes new partners to develop the system further
– particularly in areas such as the development of
industry standards for image capture and
compression. It is also actively seeking
collaborations with companies that specialize in
histological stains and staining techniques in order
to develop additional image analysis and
interpretation software suites.
For further information, please contact:
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