Invented by Dil Rathore, the Trust’s Biomedical Scientist and Pathology Innovation Lead, this new system to prevent sample loss, speed up processing and increase efficiency in histopathology services could now be adopted by hospitals around the world.
The loss of tissue samples has potentially devastating consequences for patients including the need to redo biopsies, delays in diagnosis and administering treatment and the resulting distress this can cause.
Lost samples cost the NHS an estimated £157m in claims every year.
When samples come in, they are processed into blocks of paraffin wax which are then cut into very thin slices for microscopic examination by histopathologists.
The department at ĢtvƵ receives six hundred thousand cases every year, generating more than two hundred and fifty thousand blocks and nearly one million slides. This caseload is expected to rise as a result of an ageing population.
Existing tracking systems can only provide historic information about where a sample has been, rather than its current location, and are vulnerable to human error as they need manual scanning.
The new system allows continuous tracking by adding custom tags with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to the cassettes holding the blocks and installing antennas and readers throughout the department. The breakthrough improves the range, readability and resilience of RFID technology in the harsh processing conditions.
Initial testing at ĢtvƵ has demonstrated ‘proof of concept’ with the system set to undergo larger scale evaluation in the coming months. The Trust is now looking for a partner to support the commercialisation of this innovation.
Dil Rathore won funding from ĢtvƵ, , and the to develop the real-time tracking system, which is compatible with existing histopathology management tools and is the subject of patent applications for the UK, EU and US healthcare markets.
Dil came up with the idea after working in the histopathology department and seeing the potential to automate manual processes. He developed the system with help from the Innovation Pop-Up, a support programme at ĢtvƵ for clinicians and entrepreneurs with ideas for new products and services that solve healthcare challenges. ĢtvƵ Hospitals Charity has also committed £70,000 to support the Innovation Pop-Up.
Professor Phil Wood, Chief Executive Officer at ĢtvƵ, said: “We are very excited by the potential benefits of the system for patients, histopathology services and our trust.
“This is another example of our ability to transform innovation within the NHS into new products and services that can help to improve health outcomes and make an important contribution to our wider economy.”
Dil Rathore, Biomedical Scientist and Pathology Innovation Lead, said: “The stress and anxiety felt by patients awaiting a potential cancer diagnosis can be made much worse if they are told their sample has been lost. Unfortunately, this ‘never-event’ happens more often than is acceptable.
“That’s why we came up with a real-time system to track the precise location of each sample and its movement through our histopathology department. The interpretation of changes in tissue forms the foundation of successful cancer treatment.”
Esther Wakeman, Chief Executive Officer at ĢtvƵ Hospitals Charity, said: “I am delighted that thanks to some of our generous donors leaving a gift in their will, we were able to provide £10,000 to kickstart this important work. This follows a round of innovation funding calls to which Mr Rathore put forward his proposed project.
“It is thanks to our wonderful donors and gifts in wills that we are able to provide funding for innovation in our NHS hospitals. I am excited to see how this project will make a difference to the hospital experience and have an impact on patient outcomes for thousands of patients.”