Leeds Teaching Hospital Pathology Network Uses AI

Imaging tech now part of NHS digital pathology network.

12:40 12 November 2020

Leeds Teaching Hospitals is now using Sectra picture archiving and communication systems in a scheme designed to digitise and apply artificial intelligence to NHS pathology services in North of England. 

 

The hospital becomes the first to collaborate with NHS trusts to go live with the system, which allows pathology images to be interrogated by professionals electronically from various devices. The programme is funded by UK Research and Innovation and will soon see other trusts to follow suit, including Bradford Teaching Hospitals FT, Harrogate and District NHS FT, Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS FT, The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust and Airdale NHS FT.

 

Dr Darren Treanor, NPIC’s director, and a practising pathologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS trust, said: “Leeds is the first of our six sites to go fully digital. Collectively, we are modernising our pathology services to become amongst the most advanced and interconnected anywhere in the world, and we hope to share our experience to help others across the NHS and beyond.  

 

“The days of using glass slides and paper notes to determine and communicate a patient’s diagnosis are numbered. As we move to digital ways of working we can improve quality and create a more structured digital workflow.”

 

Jane Rendall, UK managing director for Sectra, one of the NPIC industry partners, said: “Digital pathology is about far more than replacing microscopes with computers. It’s about fundamentally changing how pathology services can be configured across regions and across the country, so that patients can receive faster diagnoses, services can become more intelligent, and the NHS can make best use of its valuable pathologists. NPIC is at the forefront of this transformation.”