First European reference site for new digital pathology solutions

North Bristol NHS Trust and Fujifilm Healthcare Europe continue their long-standing relationship, with the establishment of a reference site agreement for the company's new digital pathology solutions. Under this partnership, North Bristol NHS Trust becomes the first reference site for the Synapse Pathology and Synapse Pathology Gateway platforms across Europe. According to Fujifilm, this underscores the company's commitment to advancing Digital Pathology practices and improving patient care through innovative diagnostic technologies. 

95% of clinical pathways rely on patients having access to Pathology services. With 70% of all diagnoses made in the NHS involving Pathology.

The partnership first began in February 2022 and has continued to grow and flourish supporting North Bristol NHS Trust in their implementation of Digital Pathology to meet the ever-growing NHS turnaround targets. As part of the reference site agreement, Bristol will continue to partner with Fujifilm to assist in the development of the new pathology solution offering. This includes adoption of new related solutions such as Synapse Pathology Gateway – a modular offering that has enabled Bristol to implement Data Analytics, IMS Reporting and AI functionality (in partnership with IBEX Medical Analytics) and digitalised automatic outsourcing of whole slide images (WSI (Whole Slide Imaging)) with Source Bio Science partner, Source LDPath. 

“Partnering with North Bristol NHS Trust as a reference site allows us to showcase the real-world applications and benefits of our Synapse Pathology solution, setting a new standard in digital diagnostics enhancing our support for Histopathology. I’m delighted to continue our relationship with the Cellular Pathology team at North Bristol and we’re excited to expand on our joint achievements,” says Kayleigh Patterson, Product & Release Manager – Digital Pathology UK, at Fujifilm Healthcare UK.

Synapse Pathology solution has been developed as a complete end-to-end Digital Pathology solution, designed on the principles of openness, interoperability and to enable high-throughput clinical environments. Proven to deliver digital images for diagnosis 1.7 hours faster than glass sides, while increasing collaboration and communication, Synapse Pathology solution has an open-platform, vendor-neutral approach to support Pathology services with an efficient, robust and cost-effective proposition. 

As the demand on Histology in the UK and across wider Europe continues to grow, a 47% increase in workforce is required to meet the predicted Histology workload in 2029, according to Cancer Research UK. With fewer recruits entering Histology, and at the same time a significant number of our most experienced professionals approaching retirement, coupled with an increase in workload of complex cases, the need for streamlined case management is in demand now more than ever. 

A key expected benefit of using Digital Pathology solutions is the ability to enhance operational efficiency as the digitisation of services can streamline routine workflows to make images more accessible, as well as removing bottlenecks and shortening turnaround times. With NHS targets and expectations for Histopathology departments ever growing, by March 2025, there was a target of 98% for all sample reports to be made available within 10 days. 

The Cellular Pathology Department at North Bristol NHS Trust receives cases from NBT and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, with all histology samples processed at the NBT site. The main Histology laboratory currently utilises eight Hamamatsu slide scanners and outputs more than 500,000 slides per annum, generating 800 TB of data. 

“We are thrilled to continue our collaboration with Fujifilm Healthcare as a reference site for the Synapse Pathology solution, which will continue to significantly enhance our diagnostic capabilities, output, and patient care. We are honoured to be able to work closely with Fujifilm Healthcare Europe and help pioneer the global leading Digital Pathology software provider,” says Mark Orrell, Operations Manager for Cellular Pathology at North Bristol NHS Trust. 

“This reference site agreement is just one of the examples of the strong customer relationships that we pride ourselves in. Together with our growing strength in Digital Pathology and this new partnership, we’re delighted to continue benefitting patients across the UK, as well as increasing the wider impact across Europe and the rest of the world. Fujifilm Healthcare Europe is committed to driving innovation that empowers clinicians with faster, more accurate diagnoses, ultimately improving patient outcomes. By fostering strong partnerships and expanding our Digital Pathology footprint, we aim to shape a more connected, efficient, and data-driven future for pathology across the UK, Europe, and beyond,” says Marc Newman, Head of Product & Commercialisation, at Fujifilm Healthcare Europe. 

As the company points out, the collaboration between North Bristol NHS Trust and Fujifilm Healthcare Europe demonstrates a shared commitment to leveraging technology for improved healthcare delivery. The Synapse Pathology solution represents a significant advancement in Digital Pathology, promising to shape the future of diagnostics. 

Source: Fujifilm Healthcare Europe

07.05.2025

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