CHICAGO, Dec. 3 2014
/PRNewswire/ -- Today at the Radiological Society of
North America (#RSNA14) annual
meeting, GE Healthcare (NYSE: GE) announced FDA clearance for a new
software enhancement for its acclaimed LOGIQ E9 ultrasound system
called Shear Wave elastography. The new expert tool instantaneously
generates a precise, quantifiable measure of tissue stiffness,
providing clinicians with accurate and consistent data which may be
used to identify underlying disease.
Stiff tissue found during routine physical exams can be an early
indication of disease and a gradual change in liver tissue
stiffness can indicate the progression of liver fibrosis. Shear
Wave's power to provide a quantifiable measure of tissue stiffness
may help enable clinicians to assess disease in the liver, breast
and other organs immediately.
Previous strain elastography technology required clinicians to
manually palpate a patient to identify stiff tissue and produced a
measure of stiffness relative only to other tissue within the same
patient's body. GE Healthcare's Shear Wave elastography uses
acoustic energy from the ultrasound transducer to automatically and
instantaneously produce a numeric measure of stiffness on an
absolute scale.
"Giving physicians the ability to non-invasively measure and
quantify tissue stiffness in a consistent way can help boost their
productivity and clinical confidence and can be a valuable tool in
the diagnosis and management of disease," said Brian McEathron, general manager of General
Imaging Ultrasound for GE Healthcare. "This expert tool for our
LOGIQ E9 is among a series of upgrades we made by listening to
users and designing cost effective upgrades to help address
everyday imaging challenges."
The technology measures the speed of the Shear Waves as they
travel through tissue in the body. It instantly and continuously
displays the results on a 2D real-time, color-coded ultrasound
image, with a low speed corresponding to softer tissue and a high
speed corresponding to stiffer tissue.
"Being able to instantaneously view a color-coded ultrasound
image with numeric results for tissue stiffness during patient
exams means more efficiency in how we assess and manage patients'
disease," said Dr. John McGahan, a
Sacramento-based interventional
and diagnostic radiologist. "It also offers a less invasive method
of staging liver fibrosis for the patient, which should give both
clinicians and patients more confidence in the results."
Liver fibrosis can result from various types of chronic damage
to the liver and Cirrhosis, the end stage of fibrosis, affects
millions of people worldwide. Liver fibrosis is currently assessed
using needle biopsy, an invasive procedure that may not be
conducive to repeat biopsies. Ultrasound Shear Wave elastography is
a non-invasive, low cost, portable way to help physicians assess
liver fibrosis that is suitable for use in a variety of clinical
settings. The LOGIQ E9 enables Shear Wave elastography to be
performed rapidly at the same time as an abdominal ultrasound
exam.
GE Healthcare at #RSNA14
Each year in Chicago, the conference of the Radiological
Society of North America (RSNA)
provides a forum for showcasing the latest innovations in medical
imaging. If you are attending the conference, please visit GE
Healthcare at 4039 in McCormick Place south hall. Throughout the
week of the event, GE Healthcare will distribute news and
information using these digital platforms:
- Digital Press Kit: http://invent.ge/RSNA14
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GEHealthcare
- Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gehealthcare
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/gehealthcare
- LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/company/gehealthcare
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/gehealthcare
- YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/gehealthcare
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 more information about GE Healthcare, visit
our website at www.gehealthcare.com.
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SOURCE GE Healthcare