Northern Ireland digitises pathology with Sectra solution

Health and Social Care (HSC) in Northern Ireland has successfully digitised pathology diagnostic images and reports into a medical imaging system that will help to future-proof diagnostics.

The digital pathology project, which has been implemented by Business Services Organisation (BSO), is part of Northern Ireland’s PACS. Radiologists in the region already use the same PACS to examine data including x-ray, ultrasound, CT and MR scans, which are now instantly available alongside pathology images in a single imaging record.

The implementation of the digital pathology project has been supported by medical imaging supplier Sectra.

BSO interim chief executive Karen Bailey said: “Despite the challenges COVID-19 has presented to the health service here, I am proud that our digital pathology project team and stakeholders have delivered the digital pathology project, which will provide significant benefits to HSC staff, service delivery and most importantly our patients.”

Dr Clare McGalie is responsible for the digital pathology project. She said: “I am very impressed with the system, which is helping us to come together as a region. We now have the potential for our four laboratories to act as one virtual laboratory. Annotation and measurement tools are particularly useful for skin and breast reporting. Remote working and home working is important in making our workforce more mobile and flexible. There is a lot of work underway worldwide to bring forward AI in pathology. With our digital pathology system, we will be ready to embrace that in Northern Ireland.”

Picture: Sectra’s annotation and measurement tools are useful for skin and breast reporting.

See the full report on page 10 of the April 2022 issue of RAD Magazine.