Adventist Hospital and Mount Miriam adopt latest GE Healthcare PET/CT systems for improved diagnosis of cancer
PENANG -- July 17, 2009 -- GE Healthcare announced today that it had entered into agreements with two of Penang's leading hospitals -- Penang Adventist Hospital and Mount Miriam Cancer Hospital - to supply state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging systems for the diagnosis and imaging of cancer. The partnerships will allow the hospitals to expand and improve their cancer services, bringing the benefits of the latest Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography (PET/CT) cancer diagnosis technologies to more patients in the northern region.
This development builds on the success of the Nuclear Medicine Department at Penang Hospital, the first hospital in Malaysia to offer PET/CT diagnosis. Since the hospital installed a state-of-the-art GE Healthcare PET/CT system in 2007, over 1500 patients have benefited from the technology.
Both Penang Adventist Hospital and Mount Miriam Cancer Hospital are non-profit healthcare organizations. The GE Discovery™ STe 16 systems that will be installed at both hospitals by the end of 2009, combine 16-slice CT- which provides highly detailed pictures of the patient's anatomy - with PET in a single system.
In addition to diagnosing cancer patients, the equipment will also help in providing a better understanding of cardiovascular disease and neurological conditions, allowing physicians to plan a more personalized course of treatment as well as allowing the ability to monitor response to therapy.
"We've had a long and fruitful partnership with GE Healthcare. In fact, Penang Adventist Hospital is a luminary demonstration site for most of GE Healthcare's diagnostic equipment," commented Dato Teddric Mohr, CEO, Penang Adventist Hospital. "This latest partnership focuses two leading organizations on a significant opportunity to accelerate the use of PET/CT in Malaysia and improve the detection of cancers. "
Mt Miriam Cancer Hospital CEO Mr Tan Seang Aun said, "Discovery™ STe will be the latest diagnostic imaging system that Mount Miriam Cancer Hospital is embarking on for the benefit of our cancer patients and we are proud to have GE as a partner to provide the state-of-art PET/CT."
The use of PET/CT in the diagnosis and management of cancer has been a significant breakthrough in diagnostic care of cancer patients, uncovering valuable information on tumor location, size, and metabolic activity. It assists physicians in differentiating malignant and benign lesions, identify recurrences and metastases, and so help the clinical team plan the most appropriate treatment for the patient.
"PET/CT has a higher sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for detection of tumors, resulting in a more accurate staging of malignancies, both for the primary tumors as well as for lymph nodes and distant metastasis. Its important we understand what a difference a PET/CT scan can make in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer -- time is critical for cancer patients," explained Jang Kwang Hee, Molecular Imaging Manager, GE Healthcare ASEAN.
Cancer affects a large number of people in Malaysia. According to the National Cancer Registry, a total of 21,773 cancer cases were diagnosed among Malaysians in Peninsular Malaysia in 2006. In this region the five most common cancers are cancers of the breast, colorectal, lung, cervix and nasopharynx.
###
About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.
Our "healthymagination" vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality and efficiency around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $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.
Media Contact:
GE Healthcare
Khor Jiak Woen
[email protected]
+603 (2267) 1885
Corporate Communications
[email protected]
business unit
tags