GE Healthcare’s work to accelerate cancer innovation and improve care
for cancer patients reached new milestones in advanced technology.
The campaign is founded on GE Healthcare’s integrated portfolio, which
is uniquely positioned to drive impact in oncology and a leap forward
for individualized cancer care. GE Healthcare launched a series of new
oncology technologies and systems to help advance cancer diagnostic and
molecular imaging in 2012.
"At GE, we are committed to the ongoing fight against cancer, the
leading cause of death worldwide,” said John Dineen, president and CEO,
GE Healthcare. "I’m proud of the investment and innovations that we’ve
made over the past year and look forward to working with our customers
and partners to develop new technologies and oncology solutions. We
fully support World Cancer Day on 4 February to highlight the
determination of the international community to fight cancer.”
New Technologies to Help Improve Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment
-
FlightPlan
for Liver Cancer Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer
in men (523,000 cases p/y) and the seventh in women (226,000 cases
p/y). To help physicians accurately identify vessels and block the
blood supply to the tumor (liver embolization), a standard palliative
treatment for liver cancer, GE Healthcare received U.S. FDA clearance
in late 2012 for its advanced imaging tool, FlightPlan for Liver. With
FlightPlan for Liver, available worldwide, physicians can gain
confidence in identifying tumor-feeding vessels and be more selective
when planning liver embolization.
-
MR-Guided
Focused Ultrasound Therapy for Bone Pain Palliation In October
2012, the U.S. FDA approved Insightec’s ExAblate MRI-guided focused
ultrasound for treatment of painful bone metastases in patients who
are not candidates for or refuse to undergo radiation treatment.
InSightec’s ExAblate system is exclusively compatible with GE
Healthcare’s normal and wide bore systems. It combines therapeutic
acoustic ultrasound waves with continuous guidance and treatment
monitoring by MRI. This unique combination of technologies is called
Magnetic Resonance guided Focused Ultrasound Therapy (MRgFUS).
Physicians use MRI to plan and guide therapy and monitor treatment
outcome. Focused ultrasound acoustic energy destroys nerves causing
pain from bone metastases, resulting in rapid pain reduction. GE
Healthcare is a minority shareholder of InSightec, Ltd., and is a
distributor of ExAblate in many countries around the world.
-
GE
Healthcare Acquires U-Systems, Inc
GE Healthcare’s acquisition
of a unique automated breast ultrasound imaging technology positions
the company with a large portfolio of breast imaging solutions. The automated
breast ultrasound system (ABUS) is a powerful tool that can help
physicians find mammographically occult cancers hiding in dense breast
tissue. According to published industry reports, over 40% of women in
the U.S. with dense breast tissue are more likely to get breast cancer
than those without dense breast tissue. Recent studies have
demonstrated with the addition of ABUS that radiologists have found
about 30 percent more cancers in women who have a normal mammogram,
normal physical examination and dense breasts.
-
Increasing
patient comfort for mammography screenings Healthcare is
personal – particularly for women undergoing mammograms. Designed to
divert a women’s attention away from the discomfort associated with
mammography screenings, SensorySuite
from GE Healthcare, now commercially available, provides a customized
environment involving sight, smell and hearing during an examination.
Around 25%
of women avoid mammograms because of worry and fear. SensorySuite
now provides a blend of interactive tools, selected decorative wall
panels, with associated sounds and fragrances to distract the patient
from a potentially stressful examination.
-
PET/CT
in the fight against cancer GE Healthcare has launched new
technologies in their ‘Q
Suite’, enabling clinicians to minimize the impact and quickly
address movement during a PET/CT scan, including thorax movement while
the patient is breathing. These technologies help give clinicians
diagnostic confidence while helping to minimize exposure to dose.
Continued Development of Omnyx
Integrated Digital Pathology
With a combined $100M+ investment, Omnyx
is a joint venture of GE Healthcare and University of Pittsburgh Medical
Center (UPMC), formed out of a vision to bring pathology into the
digital age and improve the research performance of pathology
departments worldwide. By combining the technology innovation and
backing of GE Healthcare with the pathology expertise and insight of
UPMC, Omnyx is developing an Integrated Digital Pathology Solution.
Designed to integrate the pathology department from image scanning and
case preparation to case review, the Omnyx solution will digitize
pathology and raise the performance standard for digital pathology
research solutions. Omnyx Integrated Digital Pathology (IDP) is the
result of extensive collaborations with more than 30 thought leading
pathologists from 13 academic medical centers and research laboratories
around the globe.
Omnyx® products are for research use only. Not for use in diagnostic
procedures.
Cancer Awareness and Support through Social Media
GE Healthcare runs a number of successful global campaigns on social
media that allow people from all over the world to share their story,
show their support to those whose lives are affected by cancer and
spread the word on the importance of early diagnosis. The Company has
been recognized with external industry awards for its #GetFit
campaign, a worldwide competition on multiple social media platforms
to raise public awareness about cancer prevention. Find out more about
#GetFit and other cancer awareness initiatives here.
-ends-
About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and
services to meet the demand for increased access, enhanced quality and
more affordable healthcare around the world. GE (NYSE: GE) works on
things that matter - great people and technologies taking on tough
challenges. From medical imaging, software & IT, patient monitoring and
diagnostics to drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing
technologies and performance improvement solutions, GE Healthcare helps
medical professionals deliver great healthcare to their patients.
For our latest news, please visit http://newsroom.gehealthcare.com
