Seoul St. Mary's Hospital said it has become the first medical institution in Korea to introduce Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution, a digital pathology solution.

The solution is a system that automatically creates, visualizes, and manages digital pathology images based on an image management system, including a slide scanner, a server, a storage device, and a viewer.

"This is an innovative system that allows doctors to break away from the analog method where they had to analyze tissue samples through a microscope," the hospital said. "The solution is equipped with state-of-the-art software tools with scanning, storage, presentation, review and sharing of pathology slides."

The solution is also the first and only digital diagnosis solution for primary diagnosis. It received U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval in April 2017 and got the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s go-ahead signal in June 2018.

"Recently, the incidence of cancer has been increasing steadily," the hospital said. "The need for precision medical care has also grown, and disease classification and pathology diagnosis are becoming more diverse and fragmented."

Despite the increase in the need to diagnosis more cases, there are many difficulties due to the analog diagnosis environment, which required pathologists to use an optical microscope, the hospital added.

With the introduction of the solution, the hospital expects it will be able to convert the existing microscope glass slides to digital images and allow pathologists to make pathological diagnoses through computer monitors. Clinicians of other departments can also view digitized pathologic photos anytime and anywhere.

Also, the solution makes it possible to establish a more efficient and productive working environment such as allowing multidisciplinary conferences between medical workers, having patient and diagnosis consultation between pathologists, and building a networking system for hospitals under Catholic Medical Center.

The hospital group, which has eight hospitals, including three in Seoul, in the nation, has set up a pathology advisory system at Eunpyeong St. Mary's Hospital in Seoul and plans to expand the advisory network to other institutions within the group.

"Once the digital pathology system is established, we will be able to dramatically improve business efficiency and productivity by making a primary diagnosis using digital images," said Professor Lee Youn-soo, head of the pathology department at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital.

The main goal of this solution is to share the technology and know-how of Philips in providing personalized and precise medical services to patients, she added.