AI and Digital Morphology in Hematology: Real Experience from Cambridge University Hospitals

How does AI change everyday work in a hematology lab, and where does it still fall short? In this webinar, Dr. Pedro Martín-Cabrera, Consultant in Hematology and Hemotherapy at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, shares his department's experience adopting digital morphology and AI for peripheral blood smears and bone marrow aspirates: the clinical cases, the business plan, and the challenges nobody expected.

The webinar was held in Spanish. The recording below has English subtitles.

What you'll learn

How remote digital review supports on-call and out-of-hours work across a large region
Real cases where AI pre-classification surfaced cells that changed the diagnosis or the plan, including blasts, hairy cells and plasma cells
Where AI bone marrow differentials work well (myeloma, lymphoma, acute leukemia) and where he still uses the microscope (MDS, dysplasia)
How to build the business case for digital hematology: staffing, turnaround time, cost neutrality, training income and archiving
The biggest challenge of going live: giving lab staff the confidence to overrule the AI

Key takeaways

AI supports the expert; it does not replace them. "In the end, they have the final say."
In straightforward bone marrow cases, AI counts save significant time. Dysplasia still needs the microscope.
Turnaround time: the realistic goal is to maintain it as volumes grow, which requires planning scanner capacity around real workload.
Pitch efficiency carefully. Frame AI gains against growing workload, retirements and recruitment difficulty, not headcount cuts.

About the speaker

Dr. Pedro Martín-Cabrera is a Consultant in Hematology and Hemotherapy at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, working in the hematopathology diagnostics department. He has around 15 years of experience in hematological and oncological diagnosis.

Frequently asked questions

Which samples does Dr. Martín-Cabrera review digitally?

Peripheral blood smears and bone marrow aspirates, with AI pre-classification that is always verified by the expert.

Does AI replace the hematologist?

No. AI pre-classifies cells and highlights cells of interest. The hematologist reviews, reclassifies when needed, and makes the final call.

Which bone marrow cases still go under the microscope?

In his practice, MDS and MDS/MPN cases, where dysplasia assessment is still challenging for AI counts.

Want to see how this works in your lab?

Scopio Labs' Full-Field Peripheral Blood Smear application is CE marked and FDA-cleared, and it's commercially available across the U.S., UK and Europe and other territories.

Scopio's Full-Field Bone Marrow Aspirate Application is CE-marked and cleared for sale in CE countries as well as in additional regions. Pending FDA clearance in the US.

Scopio's CBM® is still in development, not yet available for in vitro diagnostic use. Final outputs may vary based on sample variability and final product design.

Scopio's Full-Field remote capabilities are available through the secure hospital network.