Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution Showcased at CHINC 2020: Breaking Key Bottlenecks in Digital Pathology Diagnosis

Currently, the new generation of information technology is growing into a force powerful enough to disrupt traditional production methods across various industries, making digital transformation an unavoidable topic for any supply-side entity. Mr. He Guowei, Member of the Philips Global Executive Committee and President of Greater China, has pointed out that the health technology industry is increasingly becoming a contest of “software and digital innovation capabilities.” The digital transformation in the healthcare sector is unstoppable, and Philips’ mission is to provide “connected and integrated” holistic solutions to address the complex challenges facing healthcare systems.

Since 2014, Philips has embarked on a series of business transformations characterized by digital innovation and the application of artificial intelligence technologies. Its healthcare division has shifted from being a traditional medical equipment provider to offering comprehensive “end-to-end health care” solutions in the health technology sector. This century-old company invests billions of euros annually in R&D, frequently pursues acquisitions, and has built a team of hundreds of AI and data scientists to support its business transformation. It has successively launched integrated health information technology solutions across multiple fields, including radiology, radiation oncology, cardiology, critical care, and pathology.

In April 2017, Philips’ IntelliSite Pathology Solution (PIPS) received FDA approval for marketing in the United States. As the first whole slide imaging (WSI) system approved by the FDA to assist physicians in interpreting digital pathology images, it marked a milestone achievement in Philips’ business transformation within the field of digital pathology.

The 2020 China Hospital Information Network Conference (CHINC), themed “New Situation, New Technology, New Development,” was held in Nanjing from August 21 to 23, 2020.During CHINC, Philips showcased its IntelliSite platform, a comprehensive digital pathology solution powered by Pips, drawing significant attention from attending clinical experts and scholars.

VCBeat has learned thatThe IntelliSite platform consists of dedicated hardware featuring a fully automated, high-speed whole-slide scanner and a software system (including image management, computer-aided diagnosis, and data storage management). Data from large-scale, multi-center studies have demonstrated that the use of the IntelliSite platform in clinical pathological diagnosis can improve overall efficiency and quality.

Pathology, as the gold standard for diagnosis, is a crucial component of diagnostic protocols and a vital data source for future diagnosis and treatment information platforms. The acquisition and management of pathology slide data represent the most critical aspect of digitalization in pathology departments and constitute a technical bottleneck that urgently needs to be overcome.

Currently, the mainstream pathological slide scanners on the market are low-throughput, standalone units developed to meet the needs of remote consultation or scientific research. These scanners operate at slow speeds and involve extensive manual handling, making them ill-suited for the high-quality scanning of large batches of slides required in clinical pathological diagnosis.The IntelliSite platform’s fully automated, high-speed whole-slide scanner is specifically designed to meet the high-throughput scanning demands of pathology departments, delivering continuous, stable, high-speed scanning and consistently high-quality images. Research data demonstrate that the image quality obtained with the IntelliSite platform is indistinguishable from that observed under a microscope, forming the basis for its use in clinical diagnosis.

In terms of the application of pathological slide scanning data, since most pathological slide scanners currently use software systems developed based on a standalone workstation model, they focus on analysis functions, and the operation is often relatively cumbersome with slow system response. At the same time, standalone scanners cannot support simultaneous online diagnosis by multiple doctors, imaging data cannot be distributed and stored, there is a lack of integration with information systems, and it is difficult to support clinical application scenarios.

The image management and diagnostic system of the IntelliSite platform adopts a design that balances openness and scalability, enabling seamless integration with existing hospital workflows and IT environments. This provides a smoother and more convenient interactive experience, enhancing the efficiency of image interpretation and management. As hospitals and departments expand, the volume of data hosted and stored by the pathological slide data management system will continue to rise. Flexible scalability ensures that departments can upgrade incrementally based on demand, while open data formats guarantee long-term data accessibility, allowing hospitals to fully leverage and develop pathological data independently.

In addition to overcoming technical bottlenecks, another key reason for the widespread recognition of the IntelliSite platform is that it was co-developed by Philips and pathologists, specifically designed for clinical diagnosis.As a leader in digital pathology for over a decade, Philips has established an extensive network of pathologists and laboratories. Its workflow design aligns with physicians’ habitual practices, enabling them to complete diagnoses with minimal operational steps. Furthermore, integration with hospital IT systems allows physicians to conveniently access all information necessary for diagnosis, thereby facilitating more comprehensive diagnostic decisions and eliminating the need for repetitive operations across multiple systems.

In its seventh year of digital transformation, Philips’ Pathology business line offers comprehensive informatics solutions spanning clinical, life sciences, molecular, and educational domains, robustly supporting the digitalization of pathology departments in healthcare institutions worldwide, regional pathology alliances, and remote pathology diagnosis.

It is reported that the IntelliSite platform has been adopted by 100 medical institutions, including University Hospital of Granada (Spain), Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Singapore General Hospital, Kobe University (Japan), and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. Among these, 20 institutions have achieved comprehensive digitalization of pathological diagnosis. Data indicates that implementing efficient digital pathology systems can streamline slide management, enhance the efficiency of diagnostic tools, and improve collaboration among pathologists as well as the efficiency of expert consultations. According to Grand View Research, the global digital pathology market was valued at USD 767.6 million in 2019 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.8% through 2027.

LabPON, the Eastern Netherlands Pathology Laboratory located in Hengelo, the Netherlands, is one of the largest pathology laboratories in the country and a key user of the Philips IntelliSite platform.Each year, LabPON performs histopathological examinations for approximately 54,000 patients in the eastern region, analyzing around 300,000 tissue sections. Since 2010, LabPON has progressively explored digital diagnostics and, in 2015, became the first fully digital pathology laboratory.

LabPON’s systematic study of the digital diagnostic workflow demonstrates that digitizing diagnostics for its daily caseload of 220 cases saves a total of 19 hours per day, equivalent to 2.63 full-time equivalents (FTEs), or €120,000 annually. Furthermore, leveraging Philips’ comprehensive solution, LabPON has collaborated with UMCG, Isala Hospital, and Martini Hospital to establish a regional network, enabling pathologists across these institutions to engage in mutual learning and collaboration, thereby enhancing the overall level of pathological diagnosis in the region. Meanwhile, the Dutch Society of Pathology is also developing a national pathological image platform (PIE).

Another application case of the Philips IntelliSite platform is Hospital Campus de la Salud in Granada, Spain.It forms a medical consortium with three neighboring hospitals, where 23 pathologists provide approximately 280,000 pathological examinations annually to a population of about one million in Andalusia, southern Spain. To enable efficient and seamless collaboration among physicians across the various hospitals, Hospital Campus de la Salud underwent digital transformation in 2016, connecting the four hospitals through multiple scanners and a central server, thereby becoming Spain’s first 100% digital pathology center.

Compared to the pre-digital era, although the number of pathologists has declined due to retirements, the annual number of diagnosed cases has increased by 21%, and the number of cases diagnosed per pathologist has risen by 26%. This improvement is attributed to the elimination of the need to mail glass slides between hospitals, enabling real-time collaboration. Furthermore, pathologists across different hospitals can distribute workloads based on their subspecialty expertise, unrestricted by geographic location.

Healthcare Global Enterprises is India’s largest cancer care group, encompassing 26 centers and serving over 100,000 new cancer patients annually.To combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian Prime Minister announced a nationwide lockdown starting March 25. Pathologists were also advised to stay at home as much as possible, while numerous patients in cancer hospitals were still awaiting pathology results to guide treatment or confirm discharge.

Pathologists at Healthcare Global Enterprises’ cancer hospital leverage Philips’ IntelliSite platform to perform clinical diagnoses from home, ensuring the normal operation of the pathology department and enabling timely diagnoses for both preoperative and postoperative patients. Notably, for intraoperative cases, the IntelliSite platform delivers high-quality images, allowing pathologists to provide diagnostic results within 20 minutes—comparable to standard onsite workflows—while also mitigating potential infection risks.

By leveraging the real-time collaborative consultation feature of the IntelliSite platform, pathologists at Healthcare Global Enterprises Cancer Hospital achieved an unexpected benefit. They found that communication and collaboration among themselves became more efficient, eliminating distractions from various visitors typical in routine settings. With digital pathology images, multidisciplinary team (MDT) discussions could proceed as usual; pathologists could engage in thorough discussions with specialists from various disciplines remotely, promptly annotating and highlighting specific regions of interest on the images—a approach far more convenient and practical than traditional photography-based methods.

Debuting at CHINC 2020, the IntelliSite platform is set to accelerate its adoption in China. As Philips’ second-largest global market, China is witnessing the penetration of precision medicine-based personalized diagnosis and treatment across various disease specialties, alongside continuous iterations of diagnostic technologies. Consequently, the demand for pathological diagnosis is poised for significant growth in the future.

References:

[1] https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/digital-pathology-systems-market

[2] Baidoshvili, A., Bucur, A., Van Leeuwen, J., Van der Laak, J., Kluin, P., & Van Diest, P.J. (2018).Evaluating the benefits of digital pathology implementation: time savings in laboratory logistics. Histopathology, 73(5), 784-794.

[3] Retamero, JA, Aneiros-Fernandez, J, & Del Moral, RG. Complete Digital Pathology for Routine Histopathology Diagnosis in a Multicenter Hospital Network. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. 2019 Jul 11.