OREANDA-NEWS.  As part of its ongoing commitment to accelerating cancer innovation and assembling tools to fight the disease, GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), will highlight the benefits of the company’s broad portfolio of advanced cancer treatment solutions at the 2013 Radiological Society of North America (#RSNA13) annual meeting. GE’s innovations, including Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) and Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound System (ABUS) diagnostic imaging procedures, provide clinicians with improved tools to better detect cancer and monitor therapy. These breakthrough offerings are in the spirit of GE Healthcare’s USD 1 billion commitment to fight cancer.

Q.Clear delivers both PET quantitation and image quality
Clinicians will soon have a tool to quickly and confidently evaluate a patient’s response to cancer treatment utilizing Q.Clear, which provides up to two times improvement in both PET quantitative accuracy (SUVmean) and image quality (signal-to-noise ratio). Over the last decade, PET image reconstruction technology has been designed to provide better image quality, reduced acquisition time and lower injected dose. Current PET iterative reconstruction technologies, such as Time of Flight (TOF) and OSEM, force a compromise between image quality and quantitation. GE Healthcare’s new 510(k)-pending Q.Clear technology on display at RSNA, shows the advantage of full convergence PET imaging without compromise between quantitation and image quality.

“We know that cancer patients don’t always respond to their initial course of treatment,” said Steve Gray, president and CEO of GE Healthcare’s Molecular Imaging and CT business. “If we can give clinicians a more accurate, reliable and faster tool to confirm that a change in treatment is needed, the patient will benefit greatly. For example, PET/CT can help clinicians determine whether chemotherapy is working after as few as one to two cycles, saving patients unnecessary procedures and a significant amount of money. Q.Clear gives clinicians the ability to help make that determination.”

Clinicians will not only benefit from the ability to detect the smallest lesions, but also the ability to determine earlier whether the metabolic activity is being mitigated under current treatment. Q.Clear aims to provide better quantitation accuracy for truly personalized medicine. Coupled with GE Healthcare’s Q.Suite, which introduced the importance of eliminating variability such as respiratory motion, Q.Clear will enable clinicians to assess treatment response more accurately than ever before.

The Breast Care Continuum

This year, GE Healthcare showcased its broad suite of breast cancer care offerings in a designated “Breast Connect” section of the booth. GE Healthcare’s comprehensive approach covers the entire care continuum, keeping providers connected and giving them tools they need to help manage each patient’s care journey. This showcase includes Discovery NM750b and the Invenia ABUS system. From screening to monitoring, GE Healthcare provides the flexibility and support clinicians need to give patients the care they deserve.


Discovery NM750b enables better cancer detection in dense breast tissue

GE Healthcare’s molecular breast imaging (MBI) technology, the Discovery NM750b, enables high-sensitivity imaging to detect breast cancer in patients considered to be higher-risk due to dense breast tissue, or for patients who are unable to undergo standard Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging exams or need another imaging exam. Images produced by Discovery NM750b are similar to those acquired through standard mammography, but do not produce X-ray radiation and require approximately 30 percent less tissue compression. Discovery NM750b also enables clinicians to effectively monitor and track treatment to detect signs of disease reoccurrence.

“GE Healthcare is committed to empowering healthcare leaders in their fight against cancer,” said Gray. “MBI offers clinicians an important additional tool for imaging of a broad range of patients, including those with dense breast who may be at higher risk for breast cancer.”

“Since the uptake of the tracer in an MBI scan is dependent upon cellular metabolism, MBI technology gives us a functional rather than anatomic assessment of breast lesions, which is extremely unique information and an especially valuable tool permitting earlier diagnosis of breast cancer in patients at risk,” said Kathy Schilling, MD, Medical Director of Boca Regional’s Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute, where GE Healthcare’s Discovery NM750b was installed earlier this year.

New Invenia ABUS automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) improves cancer detection

GE Healthcare has introduced the Invenia ABUS featuring new automated compression tools for enhanced workflow and ergonomics. The automated breast ultrasound system provides physicians a new way to look at dense breast tissue that can allow them to improve breast cancer detection by up to 35.7 percent over mammography alone.

The new Invenia ABUS features advanced automation technology and is designed for reproducibility, ease of use and both patient and operator comfort. With new tools like Compression Assist and Reverse Curve, healthcare providers can quickly and comfortably capture whole breast, 3D volumes of clinical images in less time compared to previous versions of the technology.

GE Healthcare is the sole manufacturer with an FDA-approved ultrasound system for breast cancer screening purposes.