Siemens Healthineers is extending its reach into the digital pathology market through a new collaboration with Proscia.

The company will combine its Syngo Carbon enterprise imaging solution with Proscia's Concentriq Dx digital pathology platform to meet the demands of pathologists whose legacy software systems lack the necessary enterprise wide capabilities needed to work efficiently in the digital era.

Shrinking pathologist numbers combined with rising biopsy volumes and industry consolidation have placed new pressures on the field, which the pandemic has only exacerbated, including increased workloads, resource constraints and complexity of requests due to new therapies. Digitizing pathology removes these constraints by eliminating the need to be physically located in a lab. It also allows for greater access to subspecialized pathologists and consults, which improves standardization and quality of reports and in turn, leads to better treatment decisions, and is required for adopting AI applications. Other benefits include increased utilization of resources, reduced turnaround times.

The two expect their technologies will digitize and modernize pathology operations throughout the entire clinical pathway and provide a full spectrum of enterprise services for digital, data and AI support.

"The traditional practice of pathology is on the verge of the biggest transformation the field has seen since the introduction of light microscopy, and we're excited to accelerate pathology's digital transformation and pioneer breakthroughs with a strong partner complementing our core strength in enterprise reading and reporting resulting in higher efficiency and improved patient outcomes,” said Christian Zapf, head of imaging software and IT at Siemens Healthineers, in a statement.

The Syngo Carbon Enterprise Imaging solution enables image interpretation, reporting, AI implementation, data management, and archiving and migration, including seamless integration and unique access to new platforms.

Following an extensive evaluation process, Siemens chose Proscia as a partner for its entry into the digital pathology market due to the maturity of Proscia’s solutions, its end-user experience, open platform, future-proof capabilities, reputable brand, and in-depth domain knowledge. A singular, scalable platform, Proscia’s Concentriq Dx system allows laboratory networks to combine their pathology operations, hardware and software into a single solution that spares them from having to rely on multiple, different silos. The device acts as an interface and is designed to be highly responsive, support real-time collaboration for consults and second opinions and simplify digital image viewing. Its future-proof design also offers an integration layer that supports plug-and-play adoption of AI applications.

"The combination with Siemens Healthineers' products will provide additional capabilities across two dimensions: first, pathology data will be de-siloed by making it available and actionable outside the pathology department and throughout the patient journey. Second, Siemens Healthineers' capabilities in universal data management will allow to standardize data storage across departments, managing all data in one place and reducing cost of ownership," David West, CEO of Proscia, told HCB News.

Both companies expect Concentriq Dx with Syngo Carbon to create a best-of-breed solution that can digitize pathology operations at scale alongside diagnostic radiology imaging for healthcare enterprises.

Most recently, Siemens formed another partnership with AI developer Cerebriu that will see the company's Smart Protocol for Brain technology added to Siemens' MR systems for neuroimaging. The software will perform in-process detection and protocol automation to personalize the imaging experience for patients.

The integration is expected to offer technologists the ability to perform real-time adaptation for scanning protocols during imaging, without interrupting the radiologist, and provide them with the right data at the right time to make accurate diagnoses for different conditions.