Johannesburg – The National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) has announced a major push into artificial intelligence (AI)-driven pathology research, aimed at strengthening diagnostic accuracy, consistency, and efficiency across South Africa’s public healthcare system.
The initiative forms part of the NHLS’s broader strategy to modernise laboratory medicine and harness innovation to improve patient outcomes.
A key area of focus is haematopathology, where assessing plasma cell burden is critical for diagnosing and monitoring diseases such as multiple myeloma.
Traditionally, this process has been labour-intensive and prone to variability between observers, particularly when plasma cells are scarce or unevenly distributed in bone marrow samples.
These challenges underscore the need for innovative tools that enhance reproducibility, diagnostic confidence, and overall quality of patient care.
The research aligns with the NHLS’s five-year organisational strategy, which identifies the integration of innovative technologies into laboratory systems as a strategic priority.
Within this framework, AI is emerging as a powerful enabler of laboratory modernisation, supporting healthcare professionals with advanced tools that improve workflow efficiency, reduce manual workload, and strengthen standardisation.
Importantly, the NHLS emphasises that AI is designed to support, not replace, laboratory professionals, with expert interpretation and clinical oversight remaining essential to patient care.
Dr. Ethan Gantana, a pathologist and PhD candidate in Haematopathology at the NHLS and Stellenbosch University, is leading the development of innovative diagnostic approaches that combine AI with laboratory medicine.
His research focuses on plasma cell cancer diagnosis and includes peer-reviewed studies and international presentations on AI-assisted plasma cell quantification, surrogate models for estimating bone marrow involvement, and advanced computational clustering analysis of routine flow cytometry data.
These innovations have the potential to deliver faster, more consistent, and more cost-effective cancer diagnostics in public healthcare laboratories.
By strengthening diagnostic services, the NHLS aims to improve patient care while addressing systemic challenges in South Africa’s public health sector.
Beyond technical advancement, the initiative highlights the growing importance of interdisciplinary collaboration between clinical medicine, pathology, and data science.
It also creates opportunities for local innovation, research development, and student training, reinforcing South Africa’s contribution to the global AI and digital pathology landscape.
As the NHLS implements its strategic priorities, the integration of innovative technologies into laboratory systems remains central to its transformation agenda, positioning the organisation at the forefront of data-driven, modern laboratory medicine.
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