Partnership of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust with Leica Biosystems Achieves Major Milestone for Cancer Diagnostics

Collaboration to enable large-scale transition from glass slides to digital images for pathology diagnoses across all subspecialties

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Leica Biosystems

Oct 25, 2018, 09:00 ET

VISTA, Calif., Oct. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Leica Biosystems the cancer diagnostics leader achieved a major digital pathology milestone in its multiyear collaboration with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in the UK. In alignment with the company's VISION24 initiative, this heralds a revolution in the way that cancer and other diseases can be diagnosed.

Pairing technology, systems, and support from Leica Biosystems with medical and scientific expertise from Leeds, this collaboration has resulted in 100 percent digital conversion of the hospital’s glass slides workflow. Looking ahead, it promises to enable a large-scale transition from glass slides to digital images for clinical diagnoses across all subspecialties. From left to right: Jerome Clavel, Vice President/General Manager of Leica Biosystems Pathology Imaging, Darren Treanor, Consultant Pathologist and Lead for the Digital Pathology Project at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Sian Gibson, Cellular Pathology & Lab Genetics Service Manager, Leeds Teaching hospital.

Pairing technology, systems and support from Leica Biosystems with medical and scientific expertise from Leeds, the collaboration has resulted in 100 percent digital conversion of the hospital's glass slides workflow. Looking ahead, it promises to enable a large-scale transition from glass slides to digital images for clinical diagnoses across all subspecialties.

"This positions Leeds as a leader in digital pathology for clinical use," said Darren Treanor, consultant pathologist and lead for the Digital Pathology Project at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. "In partnership with Leica Biosystems, we have created a template and supporting information for other major medical centers around the world to consider as they make the journey to the digital future of cancer diagnostics."

Leeds is now scanning its glass slides ramping up to approximately 1,000 per day. Digital slides have the advantage of enabling high resolution enlarged views. They also allow secure sharing with other clinicians even in remote locations for additional consultation.

The ultimate goal of this collaboration is greater lab efficiency and diagnostic confidence in less time for patients. The specific actions taken at Leeds include:

[1] 100% digitization of the slides workflow of the Leeds histopathology lab.

[2] Comprehensive and practical validation process to promote pathologists' acceptance of digital pathology

[3] Knowledge-sharing through digital pathology workshops attended by more than 55 institutions over the last 18 months and multiple industry publications.

[4] Publishing the "The Leeds Guide to Digital Pathology", a comprehensive overview which outlines the benefits of transitioning to digital pathology:

Improvements in Patient Safety
Advances in Workflow
Positive Impact on Laboratory Staff
Higher Service Quality

These objectives align with Leica Biosystems' VISION24 initiative.

"VISION24 reflects Leica Biosystems' focus on innovation—a future in which clinicians from various specialties work seamlessly together to provide patients with a highly accurate diagnosis, consistently and efficiently, within 24 hours of biopsy," explained Melissa Aquino, President of Leica Biosystems. "As experts in the workflow from biopsy to diagnosis, we continually innovate to provide the tools and technology, the systems and processes, that will deliver pathology's great promise to transform cancer diagnostics for the benefit of patients."

The clinical use claims described in the information provided have not been cleared or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, nor are the products available in the United States.

About Leica Biosystems
Leica Biosystems is a global leader in cancer diagnostics with the most comprehensive portfolio from biopsy to diagnosis. We are committed to delivering Accuracy, Quality and Workflow Efficiencies to help advance diagnostic confidence.

About Leeds NHS Trust
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the largest teaching hospitals in Europe, a regional and national cent for specialist treatment, a world-renowned biomedical research facility and a leading clinical trials research unit. This means we have access to some of the U.K.'s leading clinical expertise and the most advanced medical technology in the world. With a £1 billion budget, we provide local and specialist services for our immediate population of 770,000 and regional specialist care for up to 5.4 million people.

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SOURCE Leica Biosystems