Solving Proprietary Format Challenges in Digital Pathology Workflows

As healthcare organizations transition toward fully digital pathology, many encounter a significant roadblock: proprietary slide formats that complicate interoperability, storage, and clinical accessibility. Formats like Philips iSyntax, Hamamatsu NDPI, Aperio SVS, and generic TIFF files, while optimized for their respective scanners, create silos that limit enterprise-wide access to pathology data—addressing proprietary format challenges, implementing DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) standardization, and deploying vendor-neutral solutions like the Unifier^® platform achieving scalable, interoperable digital pathology workflows.

What is Digital Pathology?

Digital pathology is the acquisition, management, sharing, and interpretation of pathology information in a digital environment. Pathology data spans multiple specialties, including histopathology, cytopathology, and molecular pathology findings.

Whole-slide imaging (WSI) technology allows the complete scanning of a glass slide at high resolution, allowing pathologists to review virtual slides on a monitor with the same diagnostic functionality as a microscope, yet with enhanced flexibility and diagnostic toolsets, such as natively metadata-rich objects that otherwise require manual data entry.

The global digital pathology market in the U.S. was valued at $975.5 million in 2022 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.7% from 2023 to 2030. This growth highlights the need for scalable, interoperable solutions as institutions digitize pathology workflows.

What are the Challenges and Considerations with iSyntax and Other Proprietary Formats for Digital Pathology?

Proprietary slide formats such as Philips iSyntax, Hamamatsu NDPI, Leica Aperio SVS, and TIFF introduce barriers to enterprise imaging integration. Some challenges include:

Limited Compatibility: Proprietary formats are often incompatible with enterprise imaging systems, such as PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication Systems) or LIS (Laboratory Information Systems, like Epic Beaker or Sectra).
Metadata Deficiencies: Many proprietary outputs lack key metadata, requiring manual enrichment for accurate indexing, retrieval, and clinical integration.
Workflow Bottlenecks: Ingestion, conversion, and routing delays occur when scanners cannot output DICOM-compliant files natively.
Absence of Notification Protocols: PACS and LIS platforms require instance availability notifications (HL7 IANs) at the slide level for real-time access, a capability many proprietary scanners do not support.
AI Integration Limitations: Without standardization, deploying AI algorithms consistently across pathology datasets becomes difficult, delaying clinical AI initiatives.

These limitations increase operational complexity, delay diagnostic workflows, and strain healthcare IT resources.

What is the DICOM Standard, and Why Must Proprietary Files be Converted?

DICOM is the international standard for medical imaging interoperability. It ensures that images, metadata, and associated clinical information are formatted uniformly, regardless of the device or vendor. Failing to convert proprietary formats can lead to fragmented diagnostic data, breakdowns in interoperability, regulatory compliance issues, and delays in pathology workflow

For digital pathology, DICOM Supplement 145 specifies how Whole Slide Images (WSI) should be encoded, archived, and exchanged.

Converting proprietary formats to DICOM is necessary for:

Ingestion into enterprise PACS and Vendor Neutral Archives (VNAs)
Integration with LIS/EHR systems such as Epic and Sectra
Viewing pathology slides without reliance on proprietary viewers
Routing images efficiently to AI engines for diagnostic analysis
Standardized archiving and retrieval across multi-site health systems

Dicom Systems Solutions for Proprietary Digital Pathology File Conversion

The Unifier platform is purpose-built to neutralize the challenges of proprietary digital pathology formats.

Capabilities of the Unifier platform include:

Seamless Ingestion: Directly ingests proprietary formats including iSyntax, NDPI, SVS, and TIFF.
Standards-Based Conversion: Converts files into DICOM Supplement 145-compliant objects to ensure interoperability.
Metadata Enrichment: Enhances DICOM headers with data from systems like Epic Beaker for complete clinical context.
Real-Time Slide Visibility: Generates HL7 Instance Availability Notifications (IANs) at the slide level for immediate access within LIS and PACS platforms.
AI Workflow Enablement: Supports Docker-based microservices to initiate AI analysis workflows on pathology images.
Vendor-Neutral Scalability: Functions independently of scanner or PACS vendor ecosystems, providing long-term scalability and flexibility.

Deploying the Unifier platform eliminates ingestion bottlenecks, improves diagnostic turnaround times, and prepares healthcare organizations for AI-driven pathology initiatives.

Solve Digital Pathology Workflow Issues with the Unifier platform

Proprietary slide formats like iSyntax, NDPI, SVS, and TIFF should not dictate or hinder the evolution of digital pathology workflows. The Unifier platform helps hospital and healthcare organizations overcome interoperability barriers, integrate pathology into enterprise imaging ecosystems, and shorten the time from specimen to diagnosis. Embracing vendor-neutral DICOM solutions is not just a technical necessity—it’s a strategic move toward a more efficient, accessible, and AI-driven future in pathology.

Trusted by Leading Institutions

Prominent healthcare organizations such as Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève (HUG) and Stanford Medicine rely on Dicom Systems to support complex digital pathology workflows. These institutions use the Unifier platform to streamline the transmission of large pathology images, reduce latency, and enable real-time collaboration across clinical systems.

HUG selected Dicom Systems to improve the delivery of massive pathology image files, often 10 times the size of mammography studies. The Unifier platform helps overcome latency issues and ensures fast, reliable access to diagnostic images.

Stanford Medicine leverages Unifier to support its AI-driven digital pathology infrastructure, ensuring pathology images move between PACS, LIS, and AI tools, enabling faster, more informed care decisions.

Scaling Digital Pathology with DICOM: A Whitepaper for Imaging Leaders

Many healthcare organizations face mounting challenges in processing digitized pathology slides into DICOM format and routing them across systems. Combining high data volumes, AI workloads, and complex imaging environments can strain networks and DICOM applications significantly.

Common digital pathology bottlenecks include:

Processing and routing constraints
Transformation across disparate systems
Outdated imaging platforms
Storage limitations for high-volume imaging

The Dicom Systems Unifier platform addresses these challenges head-on, enhancing imaging workflow efficiency and performance at scale.

Key Results:

Route ~85,735 slides daily—equivalent to the traffic of 29 3DHistech Pannoramic® 1000 scanners operating 24/7*
Ingest ~36,953 slides daily—13.5x the annual volume of a single large pathology organization**

[*Based on 10 slides/hour/scanner.]
[**Based on estimated average annual volume of 1,000 slides daily.]

Download the Whitepaper to see how the Unifier platform delivers high-performance pathology workflows at an enterprise-scale level.

Data Standardization To Remove Proprietary Barriers For Digital Pathology

Explore how the Unifier platform converts proprietary formats to the DICOM standard and powers scalable, AI-enabled digital pathology workflows.

Whether you’re working to integrate digital pathology with your PACS, LIS, or enterprise AI tools, the Unifier platform provides the routing intelligence and data normalization required to manage high-volume, multi-site operations to automate slide availability and scale infrastructure to meet clinical demands.

The platform also supports advanced use cases such as HL7 IAN generation at the slide level, metadata enrichment from systems like Epic Beaker, and Docker-based microservices for on-demand AI processing. By bridging imaging silos and standardizing pathology data across departments and locations, Unifier accelerates diagnostic workflows, improves data governance, and positions organizations to adopt emerging technologies with confidence.

Meet the Unifier Platform