Central Hospital of Wuhan: Benefiting Patients with Digital and Intelligent Pathology

At the Yangchunhu campus of Central Hospital of Wuhan, Zhang Hongfeng, head of the digital and intelligent pathologic diagnosis center, is online with pathologists from Jiangxia People's Hospital for an emergency consultation during an ongoing surgery. Following the analysis of digital pathology slides, a pathology diagnosis report was promptly generated within 30 minutes, significantly expediting clinical diagnosis and treatment processes.

Digital and Intelligent Pathology Transformation in Hubei: Opening a New Era of Grassroots Healthcare

With the advancement of digital and intelligent technologies like AI, pathologic diagnosis is becoming more efficient and intelligent. The use of digital pathology slides in hospitals is increasing in popularity, and the establishment of regional pathology centers is a growing trend.

In recent years, Hubei province has introduced the "1+1+N" digital and intelligent pathology service system to provide easier and more affordable medical access to the general public. This system includes one municipal regional pathologic diagnosis center, multiple country-level regional pathologic diagnosis centers, and various other healthcare institutions. The goal of this initiative is to eliminate regional barriers, create a provincial-level remote pathology service platform, connect with level-2 or higher healthcare institutions throughout the province, and establish a pool of expert pathologists at the provincial level. It aims to offer consultations for grassroots healthcare institutions on complex cases, promote remote pathology services province-wide, and utilize cutting-edge AI technologies to optimize the allocation of healthcare resources effectively.

Guarding People's Health Through Digital Slides

Central Hospital of Wuhan, as the first pilot hospital for digital and intelligent transformation in Hubei province, is linking up with the provincial remote pathology service platform to advance rapidly towards becoming a top-tier digital and intelligent comprehensive hospital in China. The hospital boasts a top-notch team of skilled pathologists and cutting-edge diagnostic equipment. Through the establishment of a digital and intelligent pathology center, the hospital is linked to the provincial remote pathology service platform, as well as grassroots hospitals at the district and county levels. This initiative aims to enhance the digital and intelligent pathology service system in Hubei province, facilitate the sharing of pathology resources, and enhance the quality and accessibility of healthcare services.

The Central Hospital of Wuhan partnered with Huawei to establish a top-tier digital and intelligent pathologic diagnosis center (regional pathology center) in China, utilizing digital slides to enhance healthcare and protect public health. The center has adopted Huawei's Digital Pathology Solution. A high-performance storage system and an AI computing platform are deployed in the main hospital, and all-in-one digital and intelligent devices are deployed in district/county hospitals to implement centralized pathologic diagnosis and promote digital and intelligent construction.

• All-in-one digital and intelligent pathology devices deployed in district/county hospitals: Pathology resources can be shared remotely by deploying these devices, enabling multi-point collaborative diagnosis to enhance the coverage and speed of pathologic diagnosis.

• High-performance pathology data storage system: Industry's first pathology file compression algorithm, high-density hardware design, intelligent tiering, and multi-protocol interworking ensure efficient management and quick access of pathology images, supporting concurrent retrieval of digital slides in seconds.

• Intelligent computing platform: Based on the AI computing platform and partner applications, AI-assisted diagnosis is used to analyze and diagnose pathology images, mark abnormal cells in seconds, and generate reports in minutes, improving diagnosis accuracy and efficiency. The AI intelligent diagnosis system has covered five types of diseases. Fan Luyao, a pathologist in the hospital, said: "It usually takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete the diagnosis of a single tissue slide under a traditional microscope. Now, it takes only 1 to 3 minutes. The report output period is shortened by 30%, greatly relieving patients' anxiety."

The digital and intelligent digital pathology diagnosis center of the hospital was launched in June 2024. The center is equipped with a full-process sample tracking system, an AI-assisted diagnosis system, a remote consultation platform, high-throughput digital scanning devices, and molecular detection devices. Thousands of images can be processed in seconds, improving diagnosis efficiency by more than 30%. Thanks to this center, expert pathologists from grade-A tertiary hospitals can assist junior-level facilities with complicated cases. The consultation time for challenging patient cases at local healthcare facilities has been reduced from 4–5 days to 1–2 days. So far, 436 cases from local hospitals in Hubei province have been completed at the digital and intelligent pathology center.

Cai Wei, President of Central Hospital of Wuhan, said: "With the ongoing enhancement of the national pathology center network, we have effectively established a digital and intelligent pathology center with the assistance of Huawei. This platform allows high-quality pathologic diagnosis services to reach more patients, enhancing the establishment and growth of digital and intelligent pathology service systems in cities and counties throughout Hubei province. This solid support contributes to the realization of the strategic objective of 'Healthy China.'"