* GE Expands Maternal-Infant Care (MIC) and imaging product portfolio
* Designed and developed in Turkey for markets worldwide
* Aims to bring technology on par with developed countries
* Thermal regulation in new borns
Dubai, UAE; January 28, 2009: GE Healthcare, the US$17 billion healthcare business of General Electric Company (GE), today launches for the first time in the Middle East its Lullaby™ Incubator XP and Lullaby™ Incubator TR. These new incubators provide for the management of thermally sensitive infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) and during transport. The Lullaby™ XP and Lullaby™ TR will be on display during this week's Arab Health Congress in Dubai.
Both Lullaby™ XP and TR, designed and developed at GE's R&D Center in Turkey, are part of a MIC program to make high end technology more affordable, reliable and more accessible to larger segments of society. GE Healthcare plans to export the incubator systems across the Middle East as well as to Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific.
According to Hisham Youssef, General Manager Ultrasound, Middle East, Africa & Turkey of GE Healthcare,"GE's clinical partnerships, technology leadership and continuous investment in healthcare solutions allow us to invite healthcare's top physicians 'to the drawing board' to re-imagine healthcare solutions. Together, we're developing innovative healthcare solutions to help address some of today's most pressing healthcare issues such as improving access to quality care in rural communities and developing regions of the world and, in developed regions, shifting to an 'Early Health' model of care."
According to various neonatal experts, Prematurity is one of the most common conditions requiring medical attention in newborns. There are approximately 138 million newborns delivered in the world annually. About 10-12 per cent of these infants are premature and require some support to manage their body temperature in the NICU.
GE's Lullaby Incubator XP combines high levels of clinical performance and with a simple flexible design, and easy to read controls for skin and air temperature. Our Lullaby XP creates an advanced microenvironment that enables providers to spend more time on direct patient care and less time on system operation.
Our Lullaby TR creates a stable transport environment for neonates that enable the provider to transfer the smallest and most vulnerable patients reliably and efficiently. Both Lullaby™ XP and Lullaby™ TR assist healthcare professionals in supporting the specialized needs of patients and families across the entire maternal-infant continuum.
"As a part of our overall business strategy, GE Healthcare plans to design and acquire products in varied segments to become a complete solutions provider in the healthcare and life sciences space. With our recent tie up with AMS, we have now started manufacturing these products in Turkey to expand our Maternal-Infant care portfolio. We plan to explore further opportunities to tap other potential segments," added Hisham Youssef.
GE Healthcare, aims to bring high quality, advanced technology MIC systems such as the Lullaby™ Incubator XP and Lullaby™ Incubator TR to market, to address the growing needs of mothers and babies. GE is currently expanding its MIC and imaging products.
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Note to Editors
High levels of bilirubin can occur in the blood called hyperbilirubinemia. These high levels can be dangerous to a baby. It is important to obtain periodic blood samples to check the bilirubin levels and, if necessary, to treat jaundice to ensure the healthy development of your child. Phototherapy with or without a Billiblanket is the most common form of treatment for neonatal jaundice. This treatment is used for a few days until the liver is mature enough to handle the bilirubin on its own. Some "normal" jaundice will disappear within a week or two without treatment. Other babies will require treatment because of the severity of the jaundice, the cause of the jaundice, or how old the baby is when jaundice appears.
Phototherapy (light treatment) is the process of using light to eliminate bilirubin in the blood. A baby's skin and blood absorb these light waves. These light waves are absorbed by the baby's skin and blood and change bilirubin into products, which can pass through their system. For over 30 years, phototherapy treatment in the hospital has been provided by a row of lights or a spotlight suspended at a distance form a baby. This would provide light shining directly on an undressed baby (with diaper on) whose eyes would need protection from the light with soft eye patches applied. Today, advancements in technology have led to a new phototherapy system, which gives effective treatment without the inconveniences of conventional phototherapy treatment. Billiblanket phototherapy is a developmental care product. This gives high intensity cold phototherapy for the treatment of jaundice without the need of eye to be covered, baby to be naked, day night cycle affected, reducing insensible waterloss and overall reducing stress to the baby during phototherapy.
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.
Kelly Home
ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller
[email protected]
+971 4 4507 600