School of somethingFACULTY OF OTHER

School of HealthcareFACULTY OF MEDICINE & HEALTH

The Role of Digital Pathology in Talking to Patients about Cancer

Rebecca Randell

r.randell@leeds.ac.uk

• Background• Histopathology/surgical pathology

• Digital pathology

• Digital microscope project

• Sharing this technology with patients• Our experiences

• Communication goals

• Relationship of technology to those goals

• Questions to explore

• Questions

Introduction

Histopathology and digital pathology

Our research

• Demonstrations to members of the public (1000+)

• Digital Pathology Patient Panel

• Interest and enthusiasm

• Cancer no longer ‘invisible’

• ‘Knowledge is power’ – helping them to come to terms with diagnosis

• Potential to help understand decisions

made in care

But where’s the patient?

• Improved perception of disease

• Increased sense of control

• Increased knowledge

• Better able to contribute to decisions about their care

• Requires research with patients to understand their expectations and experiences of receiving information about their diagnosis

What’s the communication goal?

• Leeds Virtual Microscope: walk up and use

• Digital pathology: accessibility of images

• Doesn’t require diagnostic quality resolution

How does technology address those goals?

• What is the communication goal? (qualitative)

• Does it achieve it? (experimental)

• Who should discuss these images with the patient?

• At what point in the patient pathway?

Questions to explore