Cardiologists Carry Mobile Next Generation System on Charitable Medical Missions Worldwide
New Delhi, December 6, 2006 - Just one year after market introduction, GE Healthcare's first imagination breakthrough product, the Vivid i Cardiovascular Ultrasound system, is reshaping the future of echo ultrasound examinations. From Sri Lanka to Uganda to Cyprus to Nicaragua, cardiologists have found the performance, mobility and miniaturization of Vivid i enable access to premium echo exam quality for patients in remote areas who are, in some cases, many miles from any healthcare facility. The system and its breakthrough cardiac applications were showcased at the Cardiological Society of India annual conference in New Delhi.
Introduced in September 2004, Vivid i is a cardiovascular ultrasound system that provides high-performance, full-featured imaging in a lightweight design. With a portable and wireless design that weighs 30 times less than other full-featured, larger-scale systems, Vivid i makes it possible for patients to receive exams almost anywhere, including in the OR, ER or for mobile imaging services.
"Vivid i addresses one of the biggest challenges physicians face in caring for their patients -- access to complete, real-time information," said Ganesh Prasad, Vice President, Clinical Systems GE Healthcare. "As GE Healthcare continues to improve on the portability and convenience of ultrasound technology, our clinicians tell us it has become the visual stethoscope of the future."
The clinical importance of the Vivid i is further underscored by the fact GE Healthcare sold over 1,000 systems since its introduction.
When John M. Simpson, BSc, MBChB, MD, FRCP, Guy's Hospital (London) needed a cardiovascular ultrasound system for a charitable pediatric surgical mission to Sri Lanka last September, he knew where to turn. The local GE Healthcare office supplied Dr. Simpson with a Vivid i cardiovascular ultrasound system for echocardiographic assessments with all relevant transducers, including TEE.
In an area of the world with limited access to specialized treatment, the Vivid i made a world of difference for Dr. Simpson and his team's mission in Sri Lanka. "The excellent image quality of the Vivid i exceeds many conventional echocardiography systems and includes all of the echocardiographic modalities required for clinical paediatric cardiology. The system is genuinely portable and has revolutionized our outreach cardiology service in providing diagnostic quality images at remote sites," Dr. Simpson said. He noted the Vivid i 's long battery life further compensates for areas with insufficient power supply.
Children of all ages were examined by Dr. Simpson using the Vivid i with outstanding results. Raw data images were stored on the Vivid i's internal EchoPAC archive for simplified review throughout Dr. Simpson mission. "The storage/recall facilities were superb for rapid discussion of cases in making up operating lists, etc.," Dr. Simpson said. The Vivid i was instrumental in enabling Dr. Simpson to examine 165 children, of whom 14 were sent to surgery based on the exam results.
The system's support for TEE provided an "added dimension for the operating theatre or catheterization lab with excellent image quality," he said. "The TEE was used in three cases and one had unusual anatomy [where] we could not have proceeded without the TEE."
When a call rang out for help with an eight-year-old girl in Cyprus with dilated cardiomyopathy, de-compensated during an infection, Heinz Tschernich, M.D., Chairman, Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesiology, University of Vienna (Austria), responded.
Dr. Tschernich assembled a team that included a cardiac surgeon, cardio anesthesiologist and cardiac technician, and the team flew to Cyprus. The patient could not be transported before implanting an extra-corporal pump as a temporary heart replacement, a diagnosis made in the OR with the Vivid i. Upon completion of the procedure, the patient was transported to Vienna for an emergency heart transplant. Throughout the flight from Cyprus to Austria, Vivid i was used to monitor the patient, including evaluation of the pulmonalis catheter implantation, something that could not have been done before the introduction of portable cardiac ultrasound imaging.
Each year, Dr. Craig Sable, director, Echocardiography and Fellowship Training, Division of Cardiology, Medical Director, Telemedicine, Children's National Medical Center (Washington, D.C.), conducts a mission to third world countries to detect congenital heart disease, the most common birth defect. His motivation is quite simple: over 5.5 million children worldwide have corrective defects but no access to care. With correction, most will lead normal lives; without, many will die at a young age.
On January 18, 2006, Dr. Sable embarked on a three-week mission to Uganda. He expects to evaluate over 100 children using the Vivid i that he carries along with him. On this trip, the Vivid i is a crucial component that will enable him to examine a large number of children. The system's excellent image quality gives Dr. Sable the clinical confidence to make an immediate diagnosis that will save lives.
Dr. Sable's approach to saving children is three pronged: take medical teams to third world countries to exam as many patients as possible in a short period of time; bring back as many children as possible to leading centers for care; and support physicians in third world countries so they can develop programs at their facility.
For a two-week period in mid-January 2006, Judith M. Becker, M.D., Director of Fetal Echocardiography, Massachusetts General Hospital, ventured to Nicaragua with a cardiovascular team. On these missions sponsored by the International Children's Heart Foundation (ICHF), Dr. Becker provides diagnostic and intraoperative support. She typically exams 20 children for pediatric heart surgeries and further identifies children who are either good candidates for surgery on subsequent missions or can be flown to the U.S. or Europe for additional care.
However, prior to leaving, Dr. Becker learned that the unit used on prior missions was no longer functional. A colleague then told her about the Vivid i.
With the Vivid i in hand, Dr. Becker carried the unit throughout the hospital in Managua, Nicaragua, conducting numerous echo exams including two TEE's in the OR for valve surgery. "The Vivid i worked very well for us," Dr. Becker said. "The storage on the hard drive made compiling of the data very easy, plus the ability to pull up and view or measure images at a later time were perfect for the surgeons."
By the end of her two-week mission, the Vivid i was used to provide high quality images for 20 pediatric heart surgeries.
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 and treat disease, so their 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 $15 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 43,000 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.
Purnima SahniMohanty
GE Corporate Manager - Communications
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