What is pathology? What are the benefits of digitizing pathology in the healthcare sector? How can artificial intelligence (AI) make a difference?
Pathology is about taking tissue or cell samples from patients to diagnose possible illnesses. This is typically done after a doctor's referral, and once a health professional has taken the sample, it is sent to a pathology laboratory. There, the sample is examined so that a pathologist can make a diagnosis and forward the findings to the patient and doctor.
For several decades, CGI has been one of the leading suppliers of IT solutions to Denmark's healthcare system. Currently, all five regions in Denmark use CGI's pathology system every day.
Fast and efficient processing of diagnostic results
Accuracy and speed are crucial for processing pathology results to ensure that patients can start their treatment immediately. CGI has extensive knowledge of IT systems, a deep understanding of pathology, and hospital, laboratory, and pathology department workflows.
A new partnership to advance digital pathology
CGI and Tribun Health, a leader in healthcare technology, are partnering with Region Sjælland in Denmark to implement a digital pathology solution, CaloPix*. This strategic collaboration aims to modernize pathology services, enhancing efficiency, accuracy, and innovation in diagnostics across Region Sjælland.
Henrik Mejlgaard, CGI Director of Consulting Services, Healthcare in Denmark commented on CGI’s partnership with Tribun Health,
"Tribun Health has developed CaloPix, which supports a fully digital work process for pathologists, who will be able to replace the microscope with a screen. We will help implement this solution in connection with the existing pathology system that CGI already operates," adding that CGI will also be responsible for the support and maintenance of the solution.
"What's new is that together with Tribun Health, we're making pathology digital all the way. We already operate the entire IT infrastructure that handles tests and test results, and now we are taking it a step further together with Tribun Health."
Mejlgaard calls the collaboration a good match, adding that “Tribun Health is a very strong, international player headquartered in France. Due to our long-standing and close collaboration with the Danish healthcare sector, CGI has both the experience, competencies and proximity to clients in Denmark. It’s a partnership where we complement each other perfectly. We look forward to also entering into a dialogue with the other Danish regions so that pathology can become 100% digital throughout Denmark,” he says.
An award-winning solution
The new digital pathology solution, CaloPix, won the 2024 Best in KLAS Digital Pathology Award for Europe for the third year in a row. The image management system creates digital images of samples in high resolution. The images are then stored securely in a central database where pathologists can easily and quickly access them anywhere in the world.
It will enable pathologist and lab technicians to gain improved accessibility, efficiency and collaboration in the overall diagnostic process, as well as reduce errors and gain more flexibility through the digital access to data, allowing them to work easily from different locations. The solutions analysis and decision-supporting tools can also be used in the pathologist cockpit, helping to improve accuracy of diagnosis and treatment support, ultimately saving time for patients.
Analysis through AI deep learning
The fact that pathology is now 100% digital provides a wide range of benefits for both patients and pathologists. For example, the pathologist can share a sample with a peer in Aalborg or Australia and quickly get a supplementary expert assessment.
Furthermore, with CaloPix pathologists can now also exploit the strengths of AI, which also uses deep learning and machine learning for automated, quantitative analysis.
“The use of AI makes it possible to relieve pathologists from routine and time-consuming tasks, so that specialists can concentrate on the more complicated tasks that require deep professional insight. The AI algorithms are continuously being developed and will eventually be able to support larger and larger parts of the diagnostic process,” said Mejlgaard.
Patobank: a comprehensive database for pathologists and researchers
In addition to the pathology system in Region Sjælland and across Denmark, CGI is also behind the Danish nationwide Patobank, a comprehensive database of tests and results data.
Patobank is an essential part of the foundation for research and knowledge sharing. Pathologists can use it to compare current samples with previous ones to help in the diagnosis of illnesses, and researchers can use it to extract large amounts of data.
About Tribun Health
Tribun Health leads the field with AI-powered digital pathology solutions, transforming the way pathologists diagnose and treat disease. Their advanced technology, combined with clinical and informatics expertise, delivers unparalleled accuracy, speed, and efficiency in pathology. Selected for the esteemed French Tech 2030 program, Tribun Health is a three-time Best in KLAS award winner (2022, 2023 and 2024), recognized for exceptional customer satisfaction. As pioneers in digital pathology workflow solutions, Tribun Health offers image acquisition, storage, a web-based management system, AI-powered image analysis with deep and machine learning algorithms, remote case sharing with peer review (telepathology), reporting and exceptional professional services and customer care.
*CaloPix is a registered trademark of Tribun Health.
Learn more about CGI’s health solutions at Health | CGI.com
