How Digital Pathology Can Impact a Histopathology Department

A histopathology department harbors the responsibility of providing a reliable diagnosis to patients. This is undertaken through applying microscopy to tissue samples to understand if a condition or disease is present or, if already diagnosed, whether it has changed. Every year, within the UK, the amount of histopathology slides analysed totals to roughly 20 million. Therefore, it is crucial the practices employed by a histopathology department are robust to keep up with demand and to ensure the highest quality of sample processing. Utilising the capabilities of digital pathology within a histopathology department offers the opportunity to improve current practices, speed up patient diagnostic results, and lower the chance of misinterpreting different slides. Below we offer more detail on the impact that digital pathology can have upon a histopathology department.

An Overview of Digital Pathology

Digital pathology is the process of creating a digital image from a sample of tissue within a glass slide. Once the sample has been created within the glass slide, and stained, a scan can be taken through whole slide imaging. This scanning process helps create visuals in high-resolution. Not only can these scanners manage 1,000 slides during one scan, but the images they create can have around 100,000×100,000 pixels. Once completed, the visuals can be checked to ensure their quality and then sent to a platform. This can allow others to see the images and undertake image analysis.

Improved Efficiency and Productivity

One of the most significant benefits of digital pathology is the enhancement of efficiency and productivity within histopathology departments.

The transition from a traditional to a digital workflow has been associated with a notable increase in the number of cases a pathologist can sign out annually, by approximately 21%. This improvement stems from several factors, including the:

• Acceleration of slide scanning processes
• Facilitation of easier case access
• Ability to engage in remote work.

These advancements contribute to a reduction in the time required for patient diagnoses. Studies indicate that average turnaround times could decrease from over two weeks to merely 2-3 days.

Enhanced Collaboration and Remote Consultation

Digital pathology fosters a collaborative environment by enabling the seamless sharing of digital slides among pathologists, regardless of their physical location. This capability is instrumental in facilitating remote consultations and second opinions, particularly in cases requiring specialised expertise. By bridging geographic and institutional gaps, digital pathology ensures that patients benefit from comprehensive diagnostic evaluations, within clinically actionable timelines. As a result, the quality of care and patient outcomes can be enhanced.

Integrated IT Infrastructure

The successful implementation of digital pathology is contingent upon the seamless integration of digital systems with existing sample tracking and information technology infrastructure. This integration is crucial for streamlining workflows, enhancing data management, and ensuring the reliability and accessibility of pathological data. Such cohesive systems are essential for supporting the complex needs of modern histopathology departments, and to promote cross-regional operational success.

Computational Pathology

The digitisation of pathology slides lays the groundwork for computational pathology. This field leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to support and enhance diagnostic accuracy and efficiency. Computational tools can assist in:

• Identifying patterns
• Quantifying histological features
• Providing diagnostic suggestions.

Through this, it can augment the pathologist’s expertise and potentially reduce the risk of diagnostic errors.

Training and Education

Digital pathology also has significant implications for the training and education of future pathologists. The digital archiving of cases provides an invaluable resource for educational purposes. This can enable students and trainees to access a vast array of cases with ease.

Moreover, digital platforms facilitate remote learning opportunities, expanding the reach of pathology education. However, the shift towards digital pathology also necessitates the development of curricula that maintain proficiency in traditional microscopy skills.

Cost-Effectiveness

While the initial outlay for digital pathology systems may be substantial, the long-term benefits, including improved productivity, operational efficiencies, and the potentially reduced need for physical storage space, can render the investment cost-effective. The financial viability of digital pathology is further supported by its potential to expedite patient care and enhance diagnostic services. Therefore, it can contribute to the overall efficiency of healthcare delivery.

Storage

With the demand for histopathology services rising year on year, the accessibility of physical storage becomes concerning for high-throughput laboratories, and the degredation of slides over-time must be considered when re-visiting an achieved case. Digital pathology enables the practice to leverage cloud storage for the first time, whereby images can be securely stored and retrieved digitally from short-term or long-term cloud storage from a matter of seconds to a few minutes, depending on the storage type.

Interested in Digital Pathology?

The adoption of digital pathology within histopathology departments represents a pivotal development in the field of diagnostic medicine. It promises to revolutionise the discipline by:

• Enhancing efficiency
• Facilitating collaboration
• Integrating with existing IT infrastructures
• Enabling computational pathology
• Supporting training and education.

However, the successful implementation of digital pathology will require careful consideration of its implications. This includes the initial costs and the need to balance technological advancements with the preservation of traditional histopathological skills. As the field continues to evolve, digital pathology stands as a testament to the potential of technology. Its tools are key to improving patient care and outcomes in the realm of histopathology.

Optimise Your Histopathology Department Through The Power of Digital Pathology

The improvement of digital pathology technologies means considerable thought must be given to how they can be applied to a histopathology department to develop innovative processes and tools that can better present practices. Currently, digital pathology can help a histopathology department to provide an enhanced quantitative analysis and pathology workflow. The capabilities of digital pathology are truly extensive. Therefore, it is crucial to work with specialists who know how to utilise its abilities, especially if you want to apply digital pathology to your histopathology department.

Whether you work in a private practice or the NHS, Source LDPath has the expertise to help you incorporate digital pathology technologies to improve your current practices. We work with Source LD Path, one of the UK’s biggest digital pathology suppliers, to ensure you receive the right tools for your studies. Utilising digital pathology workflows have the potential to improve your research and services. So far, Source LDPath has worked with laboratories to better their report timings, helping them to lower their times from around 14 days to 2-3 days. Moreover, the technology provided by Source LDPath utilises the abilities of AI applications, such as deep learning tools, to reinforce the accuracy of a diagnosis.

We can offer you a variety of digital pathology technologies and services. These include scanning platforms, virtual servers, and consultant workstations. Browse our website to learn more about digital pathology and how it can be applied to your own research. Digital pathology represents the future of diagnoses and disease-related research. Embrace its capabilities and use it in your studies now.