The GE Brief: August 11, 2021
SCANNING CATS AND DOGS
About one out of every 25 dogs experiences epilepsy at some point in its life. The effects can be distressing for both the pet and its owner, but until recently, the causes of the affliction haven’t been well understood. A seizure can be triggered by head trauma, a brain tumor or cerebrovascular disease, among other causes. What’s an effective way to diagnose and treat the malady? The same method used in humans: MRI scans.
Seeing through the fog: At a veterinary hospital in Valencia, Spain, an MRI machine from GE Healthcare is now being used to image dogs’ brains and spinal cords to help diagnose and treat the tumors, strokes and other disorders that trigger epileptic episodes. State-of-the-art scanners like this one contain more powerful magnets and newer software features that enable more innovative techniques. “They are allowing for early diagnosis in a way that we could never imagine before,” says Sergio Ródenas, a neurological specialist at the clinic.
Click here to read more about how dogs (and cats) are benefiting from GE’s MRI technology.
CHANGING HEARTS AND MINDS
About half of medical students today are women. And yet women are highly underrepresented in several medical specialties, among them cardiology. Research shows that only 21% of general cardiology trainees are women — and the numbers are even lower for subspecialties like interventional cardiology and electrophysiology. “With heart disease among the leading causes of death among women globally, it is clear that increasing the number of women cardiologists is critical to providing optimal patient care,” says Dr. Roxana Mehran of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Enter CLIMB: The CLIMB program was launched less than a year ago by Women as One, an advocacy group founded by Mehran and Dr. Marie-Claude Morice. Through the CLIMB program, women in cardiology will expand their knowledge and confidence in performing complex cardiovascular procedures, gain recognition for their skills, pursue opportunities to serve as educational speakers and develop relationships with industry partners and practitioners. The six-month program opens connections to training opportunities through sponsor organizations, including GE Healthcare.
Learn more about CLIMB and Women as One here.
A MAJOR TRANSITION
Last year, GE made a commitment to become carbon-neutral in its own operations by 2030. And in its 2020 Sustainability Report, released this summer, the company announced that it is going even further, with an ambition to be net zero by 2050 — including the Scope 3 emissions that result from the use of sold products. Upping the ante is the fact that roughly one billion people around the world lack access to reliable electricity, and overall energy demand continues to grow. Meeting this demand while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions will require innovation.
Rising to the challenge: GE has a deep tradition of innovation. As a leader in renewable energy, the company has developed the most powerful wind turbines ever built, which will be deployed in the United States’ first offshore wind farm, off Massachusetts. The company’s gas turbines are also helping power plants around the world hit efficiency records. Small modular nuclear reactors from GE Hitachi could also play an important role in reducing CO2 emissions. Projects involving green hydrogen and research exploring floating offshore wind turbines are already in the works. “We know the stakes are high,” says Roger Martella, GE’s chief sustainability officer, “and we know that we have to succeed.”
To read about some of the technologies GE has been working on, click here. And see our video about Jeffrey Goldmeer, GE’s “Fuel Guy,” below.
THE COOLEST THINGS ON EARTH ?
1. Performs Well Under Pressure
A team of scientists from New York and Nevada developed a “squishy” insulating material that transforms under pressure into a conductive metal, then back again.
2. Mouse (Power)house
Scientists from Princeton and Baylor universities, and the nonprofit Allen Institute, partially mapped a mouse brain’s visual cortex in 3D to improve AI.
3. What’s The Matter?
An international team of physicists created a computer model for “laser pincers” that they hope could eventually produce antimatter in the lab.
Learn more here about this week’s Coolest Things On Earth.
Hear Jeffrey Goldmeer, emergent technologies director at GE Gas Power and host of the “Cutting Carbon” podcast, discuss how we’ll move toward global decarbonization while providing power to people around the world.
— QUOTE OF THE DAY —
“I have been invited to participate in meetings, symposia and on advisory boards, and one thing that’s helped me is having role models, women that I can look at and say, ‘If she’s able to do that, I must be able to, too.’ ”
— Dr. Marta Sitges, director of the Cardiovascular Institute at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona
Quote: GE Healthcare. Images: GE Healthcare, GE Renewable Energy. Video: GE Reports.