GE Healthcare Unveils Over 30 New Imaging Technologies and Intelligent Applications at RSNA 2019

December 1, 2019, Chicago—At the 2019 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Annual Meeting, GE Healthcare launched more than 30 new medical imaging applications and intelligent devices designed to effectively enhance the efficiency of healthcare service delivery. These innovations are projected to help healthcare systems double productivity while significantly reducing medical expenditures by 2025. For healthcare administrators, these new products and solutions can help reduce costs, improve operational efficiency, and increase patient throughput. For clinicians, these innovations offer a more intuitive and seamless workflow experience, bolster confidence in clinical diagnosis, minimize repetitive tasks, and allow greater focus on patient care.

In the United States alone, inefficiencies in healthcare delivery result in nearly $1 billion in wasted resources annually. Healthcare administrators have identified cost and transparency as their primary concerns, underscoring an urgent need for innovative solutions to address these challenges, reduce waste across the healthcare industry, and improve efficiency. In light of this, GE HealthCare showcased a range of its latest intelligent applications and medical devices at this year’s RSNA annual meeting.

AIR™ Recon DLThis is the latest application developed based on GE Healthcare’s Edison intelligent platform, and it is also GE’s first artificial intelligence (AI) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reconstruction technology based on deep learning algorithms. This AI reconstruction technology integrates GE’s years of image data and rich technical accumulation in the field of magnetic resonance imaging, subverting previous reconstruction algorithms. By learning from tens of thousands of original MRI images through deep neural network algorithms, it reconstructs high-definition images that more accurately reflect the true scanned images. It can significantly improve the signal-to-noise ratio and clarity of images while shortening scan time and enhancing imaging speed, allowing clinicians to focus more on diagnosis and treatment without having to compromise between image quality and scan time.

Critical Care Suite, it is the first AI algorithm embedded in mobile X-ray equipment to receive FDA approval in the industry. Co-developed by GE HealthCare and clinical partners based on the Edison intelligent platform, it is used for clinical monitoring of life-threatening conditions in intensive care, such as pneumothorax (a life-threatening condition involving lung collapse) and pneumoperitoneum, helping physicians rapidly identify and prioritize patients with suspected pneumothorax. This effective workflow, which leverages AI algorithms to predict and rapidly triage patients, helps reduce misdiagnoses in clinical practice while further improving efficiency and quality. For well-trained healthcare professionals in large and medium-sized hospitals, this AI algorithm and its suite of intelligent features can reduce manual clicks by 70,000 times annually during chest X-ray examinations performed on portable X-ray machines—equivalent to nearly 20 hours or three working days of workload. (According to GE HealthCare archival data)

Edison™ Open AI OrchestratorIt is a collaborative management application developed based on AI technology, capable of orchestrating imaging workflows on a large scale. It significantly simplifies the implementation, deployment, support, and expansion of multiple AI software applications, including those from GE Healthcare partners iCAD and MaxQ. By seamlessly integrating clinical applications into the PACS reading workflow of medical imaging departments, it reduces the probability of conflicts and the risk of errors among multiple concurrently running systems and algorithms.

Equipped with an AI-powered one-click positioning "Sky Eye" systemRevolution™ MaximaIt is a high-performance 64-slice CT system that significantly optimizes every step of the workflow, from patient positioning and scanning to report generation. Its core innovation is the "SkyEye" one-click positioning system, designed based on deep learning algorithms. By using 3D sensors to identify eight major anatomical landmarks, it constructs a 3D image and automatically locates the center of the scan area. This enables true one-click precise positioning and contact-free table entry for automated scanning, thereby improving work efficiency and reducing hospital staffing inputs and operational costs.

OEC Elite CFDThe OEC Touch Control Panel is a brand-new interface designed to minimize intraoperative interruptions caused by moving the C-arm for operation. Featuring a large, high-resolution touchscreen and easily recognizable OEC color-coded icons, the new OEC Touch Control Panel supports functions such as real-time zooming and digital pen input. This enables efficient image acquisition and review during surgery without the need to reposition the C-arm or switch to a separate workstation, thereby enhancing surgical efficiency.

Embo ASSIST with Virtual InjectionEmbo ASSIST with Virtual Injection is an application software developed on the Edison intelligent platform, designed to assist clinicians in performing complex embolization procedures. This software enables clinicians to dynamically analyze the vascular system and simulate injections, thereby facilitating embolization decision-making. With a single click, it helps avoid inadvertent embolization of healthy organs in the brain or prostate. Leveraging CT imaging data from GE Healthcare, Embo ASSIST with Virtual Injection provides clinicians with more intuitive solutions to support intraoperative decision-making during interventional procedures, enhance procedural efficiency, and achieve more precise minimally invasive treatments.

Clinical Command CenterClinical Command CenterImprove diagnostic and treatment outcomes and enhance efficiency through a new real-time decision support tool, while optimizing workflows using “Digital Twins” of patient flow. The Clinical Command Center system includes 5 to 20 intelligent decision-support applications, also referred to as management modules, which help precisely identify opportunities to address issues such as reducing length of stay, improving imaging examination efficiency, and overcoming bottlenecks in patient experience. These functionalities not only deliver real-time benefits but, in some cases, can even predict potential problems. Specifically, the Imaging Expediter Tile enables proactive management of imaging data for radiologists by prioritizing the scanning and identification of a range of issues, such as missing test results or disruptions in care for both inpatients and outpatients. At Humber River Hospital in Toronto, Canada, the Imaging Expediter Tile helped increase the speed at which inpatients received imaging results by 16–27% and reduced length of stay by 52%. Over nearly four years since its deployment, this toolkit has delivered significant and sustainable impact across numerous hospitals in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Centre Imagery Jacques CallotVincent Lombard, a radiologist in the Department of Medical Imaging, was the first to clinically utilize the Revolution™ Maxima CT system equipped with AI-powered “SkyEye” automatic positioning technology. He stated, “The development of AI-driven intelligent technologies and applications is not only the future of medical imaging but also crucial for healthcare service management aimed at transforming workflows and enhancing patient experience. By integrating AI technology into existing workflows, we can not only improve image quality and reduce operational steps, but more importantly, allow our team to focus more attention and dedicate more time to patient care.”

Kieran Murphy, President and CEO of GE Healthcare, stated: “Clinicians are currently facing unprecedented pressure to deliver better patient care and clinical outcomes with fewer resources. By integrating data, intelligent applications, and smart devices, we help clinicians make accurate decisions more quickly, thereby saving time for the critical task of patient care.”

Furthermore, at this year’s RSNA, GE Healthcare proudly launched the “Edison Developer Program,” comprehensively advancing the construction of a global intelligent healthcare ecosystem. In addition to unveiling multiple applications based on the Edison intelligent platform, GE will further collaborate with more AI technology developers, research institutions, and clinical research partners in the medical field to accelerate the development of additional intelligent applications that enhance clinical diagnosis and treatment outcomes and improve the efficiency of healthcare services.