International medical imaging IT company Sectra (STO: SECT B) and digital pathology company Visiopharm A/S have reached agreement on an open exchange of pathology images between their respective digital pathology systems.

The companies agree that open solutions and the free exchange of information between the various healthcare IT systems without “internal company formats” are of benefit to both customers and providers. The integration of the two systems will enable customers to work in the platform they consider best for the respective application. Open systems allow the customers to adapt the solution to their needs. Not only do open systems promote increased innovation and application of new technology, they also enhance the user’s choice and contribute to a lower overall cost of digitization. 

”For many years, Visiopharm has worked in digital pathology providing leading-edge expertise in image analysis and now also for end-to-end digital pathology solutions. Sectra is established as a market leader for integrated diagnostics using images from radiology and digital pathology in the same IT system. The agreement on free exchange with Sectra is an important step forward for open imaging management in digital pathology. As two leading companies in their respective fields, both with a base in the Scandinavian tradition, we look forward to continued favorable cooperation with Sectra,” says Michael Grunkin, CEO of Visiopharm.

Torbjörn Kronander, President and CEO of Sectra, says: “Expanded cooperation between providers is important for the market to gain momentum. Customers don’t want closed solutions that prevent free integration between their different suppliers of choice. Open systems are the only conceivable way forward. However, the market for digital pathology is still in its infancy and as in all early IT markets, there are players who want to lock customers into their own solutions. This is something that usually disappears as the market matures. Sectra and Visiopharm are now showing the way and will be able to offer solutions that can communicate images between our solutions in both directions. Visiopharm is a strong company in certified digital image analysis and we are pleased to be able to offer our customers such an open communications opportunity.”

The interface between both providers will be based on international standards (such as DICOM) and is a future-proof solution for customers. About half of the digital pathology market’s providers support such open solutions today. The interface will be available from both suppliers in 2017.

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