Indica Labs and Leica Biosystems selected to advance digital pathology in clinical practice
Multiple NHS trusts within South West London Pathology chose HALO AP and Leica Biosystems Aperio GT 450 DX for their digital pathology solutions
29 Sept 2025
Indica Labs and Leica Biosystems have announced that multiple trusts within the South West London Pathology network have chosen the combination of Leica Biosystems' Aperio GT 450 DX scanners and Indica Labs’ HALOP AP® for digital pathology adoption.
This combined solution will be leveraged to facilitate remote working and cross-site collaboration; improve case turnaround time; and prepare for future integration of AI-based image analysis for enhanced diagnostic accuracy and speed.
The initial aims are to digitize workflows and achieve 100% glass slide scanning and 60% digital reporting in cellular pathology, shortly after deployment, with a view to onboard other subspecialties within 3–6 months.
This digital pathology project is part of a broader national initiative by NHS England and the National Cancer Improvement Turnaround Programme aimed at improving cancer diagnostic turnaround times and producing more accurate test results, while providing a centralized cloud-based deployment to facilitate collaboration across multiple hospitals and NHS trusts. Funding is provided by the Cancer Programme under the Diagnostics Digital Capability Programme.
This network of trusts will lead the field of digital pathology with their centralized cloud-based deployment for data management and WSI storage. The network includes 45 pathologists across several subspecialities, and they produce over half a million slides each year.
With the large volume of annual pathology cases and many working pathologists spread across multiple sites, a cutting-edge digital pathology solution with a cloud-based centralized deployment enables seamless collaboration across institutions. This environment also future-proofs each laboratory, ensuring scalable data management and multiple options for bringing in AI-powered diagnostics.
Throughout the ongoing integration process, the team at Indica Lab integrated multiple laboratory information management systems (LIMS) into one unified digital pathology platform: a complex technological challenge, requiring highly trained experts. Each LIMS has a different architecture, data models and workflows that need intricate configuration to ensure real-time communication between systems.
LIMS integration is imperative in the digital pathology implementation process and will provide consistency and efficiency to enable the highest quality of patient care across South West London Pathology.
Simon Brewer, Managing Director of South West London Pathology, said, “The potential benefits to our patients in terms of higher productivity and improved turnaround times are significant. Our ability to more easily collaborate on cases will greatly improve the flow of information across sites and will mean that we can report on complex cases without the need to transport precious samples, removing the risk of samples being lost or damaged. It is exciting to be at the cutting edge of digital pathology in the UK and leading the way for other NHS trusts and organizations through our partnership with Indica Labs and Leica Biosystems.”
HALO AP® is CE-IVDR marked for in-vitro diagnostic use in Europe, the UK, and Switzerland. HALO AP® is For Research Use Only in the USA and is not FDA cleared for clinical diagnostic use. In addition, HALO AP® provides built-in compliance with FDA 21 CFR Part 11, HIPAA, and GDPR. PRR-MAR-000001v1.