North Bristol NHS Trust Becomes Reference Site for FUJIFILM’s Digital Pathology Platform

North Bristol NHS Trust has been named the first European reference site for FUJIFILM Healthcare’s SYNAPSE Pathology system, marking a continuation of their collaboration that began in 2022. The agreement designates the Trust as a demonstration and development partner for FUJIFILM’s digital pathology technologies, including the SYNAPSE Pathology Gateway.

The collaboration aims to address rising histopathology workloads across the UK, with projections from Cancer Research UK indicating a 47% increase in demand by 2029. FUJIFILM and North Bristol plan to further develop and validate the platform for wider use across NHS sites and European healthcare institutions.

Photo: Southmead Hospital, NHS Trust

Synapse Pathology is a digital pathology PACS (picture archiving and communication system) that integrates with laboratory information systems and supports ingestion, streaming, and viewing of whole-slide images alongside associated clinical data. 

The platform accommodates both proprietary and DICOM file formats and includes tools for image lifecycle management and cloud deployment. File size optimization features are designed to reduce image volume by up to 25%, addressing storage challenges in high-throughput environments. The system also connects to AI models through the Synapse AI Orchestrator and can operate via Synapse Cloud Services for scalable, HIPAA-compliant infrastructure.

As part of the reference site agreement, North Bristol NHS Trust has adopted several modular components from the Synapse Pathology Gateway suite. These include data analytics functions, IMS reporting, AI-based diagnostic support in collaboration with IBEX Medical Analytics, and automated digital outsourcing of whole-slide images through Source LDPath, a partner of Source BioScience. The Trust currently processes over 500,000 histology slides annually with eight Hamamatsu scanners, generating approximately 800 terabytes of image data.

The Trust processes over 500,000 slides annually using eight Hamamatsu scanners, generating approximately 800 terabytes of data. The move to digital pathology supports national turnaround targets, including the NHS goal of delivering 98% of sample reports within 10 days by March 2025. According to internal evaluations, Synapse enables diagnostic image access roughly 1.7 hours faster than traditional glass slides.

Topics: AI & Digital