Royal Philips (NYSE:PHG, AEX:PHIA) today announced a joint development agreement with the Mount Sinai Health System, an integrated health system in New York, to create a state-of-the-art digital image repository of patient tissue samples and innovative data analytics to pursue the discovery of new tissue-based tests and unlock pathology data. The collaboration aims to advance clinical research and ultimately enable better care for complex diseases, including cancer.
Pathology, including the examination of patient tissue samples, is one of the corner stones of modern medicine. The Mount Sinai Health System comprises seven hospital campuses serving approximately 170,000 inpatients and 2.6 million outpatients annually. Over the years, these sites have collectively stored hundreds of thousands of tissue samples in the form of glass tissue slides. Philips and Mount Sinai will now start to create a comprehensive digital image repository containing the digital scans of all these glass tissue slides. Ultimately, these data will be made accessible to researchers. By integrating, analyzing and presenting the data available from whole slide pathology images, clinical laboratory services, genetic analysis, radiology, and surgical and molecular pathology, Philips and Mount Sinai believe the unique insights obtained will enable the development of predictive analytics to help personalize patient care.
"The digitization of pathology gives us the unprecedented opportunity to access vast amounts of unlocked data and view it within the context of other images, results and clinical information," said Frans van Houten, CEO Royal Philips. "It is our vision that our improved understanding of these data will help us enable better, more individualized care with greater confidence."
"This collaboration with Philips has the potential to help drive a new paradigm in healthcare that includes the optimization of treatment efficacy and superior clinical outcomes," said Dr. Carlos Cordon-Cardo M.D., Ph.D., Chairman of the Department of Pathology at the Mount Sinai Health System. "Our ultimate goal with this initiative is to translate data into knowledge to maximize personalized patient management."
Mount Sinai is committed to partnering with industry to develop innovative therapies and diagnostics that improve the lives of patients worldwide. The terms of this collaboration agreement were managed by Mount Sinai Innovation Partners, the technology development and commercialization group for the Mount Sinai Health System.
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About the Mount Sinai Health System
The Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system committed to providing distinguished care, conducting transformative research, and advancing biomedical education. Structured around seven member hospital campuses and a single medical school, the Health System has an extensive ambulatory network and a range of inpatient and outpatient services - from community-based facilities to tertiary and quaternary care.
The System includes approximately 6,600 primary and specialty care physicians, 12-minority-owned free-standing ambulatory surgery centers, over 45 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island, as well as 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health funding and by U.S. News & World Report.
About Royal Philips
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a diversified health and well-being company, focused on improving people's lives through meaningful innovation in the areas of Healthcare, Consumer Lifestyle and Lighting. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips posted 2014 sales of EUR 21.4 billion and employs approximately 105,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. The company is a leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as male shaving and grooming and oral healthcare.