Swedish healthcare provider invests in Sectra’s digital pathology solution
Linköping, Sweden, December 19, 2016 - International medical imaging IT company Sectra (STO: SECT B) announces that the Swedish regional healthcare provider, Västerbotten County Council, will digitize the storage, viewing, and sharing of its pathology images. Sectra’s digital pathology solution allows for a greater percentage of studies to be reviewed digitally at any of the region’s hospitals, regardless of where the examination occurred. Pathologists in a nearby region, Jämtland Härjedalen, will also use the solution.
Västerbotten County Council has a total of approximately 250,000 residents, and together with Jämtland Härjedalen, performs 35,000 pathology examinations and 34,000 cytology examinations annually.
The digital pathology solution will be integrated both with Västerbotten County Council’s existing scanners that digitize tissue samples and its associated IT infrastructure for handling patient information.
“Västerbotten County Council is a good example of the type of healthcare providers that are among the first to adopt digital pathology in the market. They are a geographically distributed region and as such can see an interesting business case for going fully digital in pathology by being able to share digital images rather than sending physical glass slides,” says Dr. Torbjörn Kronander, President and CEO of Sectra.
Why digital pathology?
Pathology departments analyze tissue samples and bodily fluids to identify the reasons for a patient’s symptoms. The results provide guidance for the diagnosis, follow-up, and treatment of various diseases. There is an acute shortage of pathologists, while at the same time, an aging population and more specialized diagnostics are leading to increasing volumes and demands for more-detailed reports. Digitizing tissue samples could lead to shorter wait times, more-accurate diagnoses, and a more-efficient use of resources.
Sectra’s digital pathology solution
Sectra’s digital pathology solution is built on the same platform as Sectra’s solution for handling radiology images (Sectra PACS), which is already in use at the radiology and mammography department at Västerbotten County Council. This enables in-depth collaboration between radiologists and pathologists, two of the key players in effective cancer care. It also facilitates multidisciplinary team meetings, which are part of integrated diagnostics. In addition, using a common platform will lead to reduced maintenance and operating costs. Sectra offers a complete solution for primary diagnostics that includes storage solutions and an advanced review workstation. In the US, digital pathology for primary diagnostics is still pending FDA approval.
Read more about digitization of pathology used by existing customers
For further information, please contact:
Dr. Torbjörn Kronander, CEO and President Sectra AB, 46 (0) 705 23 52 27
Marie Ekström Trägårdh, Executive Vice President Sectra AB and President Sectra Imaging IT Solutions, 46 (0)708 23 56 10
About Sectra
The world needs more efficient healthcare and more secure communication. Sectra plays a key role in meeting these needs. Sectra assists hospitals throughout the world to enhance the efficiency of care, and authorities and defense forces in Europe to protect society’s most sensitive information. The company was founded in 1978, has its head office in Linköping, Sweden, with subsidiaries in 14 countries, and operates through partners worldwide. Sales in the 2015/2016 fiscal year totaled SEK 1,073 million. The Sectra share is quoted on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange. For more information, visit www.sectra.com
In the medical market, Sectra develops and sells IT solutions for the management and communication of all types of medical images – primarily in radiology, mammography, pathology and orthopaedics, as well as other departments where medical images are used. Sectra has a strategic focus on making cancer care more efficient. More than 1,700 hospitals, clinics and imaging centers worldwide use Sectra’s systems daily. This makes Sectra one of the world’s leading providers of IT solutions for managing medical images and patient information. The company commands a market-leading position in Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Portugal, holds a prominent position in the UK and is growing in the US. Sectra has delivered some of the largest installations of medical IT systems worldwide and its systems have been installed in North America, Scandinavia and most major countries in Europe and the Far East.
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