With cancer cases rising across the province, new technology and upgrades to a lab at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) will help some patients receive their diagnoses sooner.
Dr. Michael Nimmo, the head of the pathology department at VGH, explains that the process of making a pathological diagnosis typically involves placing a tissue sample into a cassette, embedding it in wax, and then slicing it into thin sections. Once prepared, a pathologist examines the slides under a microscope to make a diagnosis.
But new additions to the lab — the Auto Facing Device and the Auto Slide Preparation System — will now automate many of the steps leading up to a diagnosis, completing them more quickly, even when the lab is closed.
“We can actually, depending on the nature of the specimen, get a diagnosis out in 24 to 48 hours,” Nimmo said.
Rebecca Chan, VCH Technical Practice lead for the Anatomical Pathology Lab, says the new technology makes the process significantly faster.
“The instrument can actually produce up to 410 slides per hour, and a technologist can do 100 slides an hour,” Chan said.
Nimmo says because staff work in shifts, and those shifts only operate from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., they are limited to the number of samples they can get through in a day.
“With automation, we are able to load the material onto the machine and start using it 24/7,” he said.
“That enables us to use all of our facilities much more effectively so we can get the diagnoses out quicker.”
The new technology isn’t replacing technologists. Instead, it allows them to spend more time on specialized and more pressing tasks while the automated systems handles repetitive preparation work.
The lab upgrades and new technology were made possible through new funding.
The VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation’s Greater Than Cancer campaign raised more than $39 million to advance cancer diagnostics, treatment, and research at Vancouver General Hospital.
Angela Chapman, foundation president and CEO, said, “Approximately 30,000 people per year will be diagnosed in the coming years with cancer. With that volume, that means we have to be innovating and speed up diagnoses and put people through treatment.”
“This lab upgrade really reduces the amount of time technicians pour into the slides and puts people into diagnosis and treatment.”
VGH is the first hospital in B.C. to implement this technology.
