Breakthrough molecular imaging technology; Volume Imaging opening a new era of rapid, less invasive cardiology

Dubai, UAE; FEBRUARY 1, 2007: Continuing its leadership in PET/CT technology, GE Healthcare announced today at Arab Health 2007, the first installations of the company's new Discovery VCT, the world's first true 64-slice combination positron emission tomography and volume computed tomography (PET/CT) system. GE's Discovery VCT has the potential to transform the way physicians diagnose and treat heart disease and other life-threatening illnesses. 

The Discovery VCT marries through the Discovery Dimension platform, the high-speed, high-resolution capabilities of GE's volumetric CT with the high sensitivity breakthrough motion imaging capabilities of its industry leading Discovery PET system. By combining these scanning technologies, the Discovery VCT provides the tools to enable physicians to more accurately diagnose and identify heart disease and other conditions, including cancer and neurological disorders.

"We are entering a new era of less invasive cardiology in which PET/CT imaging will play a major role in managing heart disease," said Isam Moursy, General Manager at GE Healthcare for the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and Turkey (MEACAT) region. "Combining the functional capabilities of PET with the speed and resolution of volume CT will propel cardiac imaging and has the potential to transform the diagnosis and treatment decisions of heart disease."

GE's Discovery VCT enables phyisicans to access essential functional and anatomical patient data, including perfusion map at rest and peak cardiac stress, CT angiography and cardiac calcium score, all in one setting. The information made available through the Discovery VCT helps to quickly and accurately diagnose cardiac patients, helping to eliminate unnecessary invasive diagnostic procedures while guiding more appropriate treatment decisions.

Leveraging the Innovation of GE's LightSpeed VCT to Further Enhance Cardiac Imaging

GE originally designed the LightSpeed VCT, the world's first volume CT system, to easily integrate with its PET technology.  "Developing the world's only volumetric, 64-slice PET/CT is a logical extension of our success with the LightSpeed VCT," said Moursy.

The LightSpeed VCT is able to noninvasively capture images of the heart and coronary arteries in as few as five heartbeats. In a single rotation, the system creates 64 sub-millimetric-thin images, totaling 40 millimeters of anatomical coverage. These images are combined with the Discovery STE metabolic and physiological PET images to form a three-dimensional fused view of the patient's anatomy and corresponding function for the physician to analyze.

"The Discovery VCT, like the LightSpeed VCT, was built for physicians and molecular imaging researchers based on their clinical needs, from the ground up," added Moursy. "The speed and resolution of the LightSpeed VCT combined with the advanced imaging capabilities of Discovery Dimension PET platform will keep GE at the forefront of diagnostic cardiovascular care."

GE the Industry Leader in Cardiac PET/CT

GE's flagship Discovery PET/CT system is the cardiac and whole body PET/CT market leader, providing physicians with anatomical and physiological information and helping to improve diagnostic confidence when assessing coronary artery disease and cardiac viability. GE has invested more than US$160 million in the research and development of hybrid imaging technology and holds 25 related patents.  

The company first began its work combining images with the development of the GE Millennium VG Hawkeye SPECT/CT system in 1999, and launched the first commercially available PET/CT, the Discovery LS, in 2001.

GE Healthcare lines up its latest range of innovative diagnostic imaging technologies and solutions at Arab Health 2007, and is also the gold sponsor of the Middle East Imaging and Diagnostic Congress, running concurrently with the annual Arab Health exhibition.

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About GE Healthcare:
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, performance improvement, drug discovery, and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies is helping clinicians around the world re-imagine new ways to predict, diagnose, inform, treat and monitor disease, so patients can live their lives to the fullest.

GE Healthcare's broad range of products and services enable healthcare providers to better diagnose and treat cancer, heart disease, neurological diseases and other conditions earlier. Our vision for the future is to enable a new "early health" model of care focused on earlier diagnosis, pre-symptomatic disease detection and disease prevention.

Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a US$17 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 46,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com.

For further information, please contact: 
Kelly Home / Nedal Alassad
ASDA'A Public Relations,
Exclusive Affiliate of Edelman PR Worldwide in Middle East and North Africa
Tel: (+971 4) 334 4550
Email: k.home@asdaa.com /n.alassad@asdaa.com

© Press Release 2007