The GE Brief: February 2, 2021
BEATING THE ODDS
Moments after Shriyan was born, doctors at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kerala, India, rushed the critically ill boy to an operating room, where a surgeon was waiting to perform a lifesaving cardiac procedure to correct a rare but fatal heart defect. How did they know to be ready? Prenatal cardiac ultrasound, also known as fetal echocardiography, allowed them to diagnose the defect while the boy was still in utero. A year later, Shriyan is thriving and Dr. Balu Vaidyanathan, who diagnosed him, has added another success to his growing family of newborns with congenital heart defects who beat the odds.
The heart of the matter: Over the last decade, the advent of high-definition ultrasound technology to identify heart defects in utero has been a game changer for Dr. Balu’s patients. Dr. Balu uses GE Healthcare’s Voluson E10, which employs 2D, 3D and color Doppler imaging capabilities to visualize the fetal heart. The ultrasound’s software relies on algorithms to improve the quality of images and generate them faster, while also requiring fewer steps for technicians. The result is clearer images and faster exam times. In fact, Dr. Balu says it’s one of the factors that has helped Kerala lower its infant mortality rate from 10 infants per 1,000 in 2017 to just 7 per 1,000 in the last year.
Click here to learn more about the success this technology is having in India.
A MAJOR RECOGNITION
GE Healthcare is also making other news. The Silicon Valley-based business research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan recognized GE Healthcare with the 2020 Global Company of the Year Award on Monday for AI-based command centers that help hospitals make real-time decisions that improve care delivery. GE Healthcare has been using data and AI to develop virtual and physical command centers that can support single departments, hospitals, and even health systems. Shortly after COVID-19 struck the United States in 2020, for example, 64 hospitals in Oregon teamed up to roll out a software application using AI to help maximize lifesaving resources, such as ICUs, ventilators and negative pressure beds.
Dr. Data: The Oregon Capacity System is based on GE Healthcare’s Critical Resource Tile — a command center app — and allows the hospitals to dynamically share critical resource information. GE Healthcare command centers and software are working in six countries, including the U.S., U.K. and Canada. “Our goal with Command Center is to put actionable insights at each caregiver’s fingertips,” says Amit Phadnis, GE Healthcare’s chief digital officer. “As we move towards data-driven, intelligence-based healthcare, this is an important aspect of GE Healthcare’s vision, underpinned by our Edison Intelligence platform.”
Read more about GE Healthcare’s command center technology and the award here.
FLYING BY THE NUMBERS
As more people return to the air, airlines are looking for new ways to help passengers feel safer about flying. Emirates, for example, is testing TrustOne, an app designed to help make meeting pre-travel testing requirements smoother. The app will help passengers find approved lab locations and book appointments for a COVID-19 PCR test at discounted rates through Eurofins, a laboratory testing company with locations around the globe. It will also help them keep tabs on the latest regulations and protocols and manage all of the needed information in one place. The app was developed by GE Digital Aviation Software in partnership with TE-FOOD, a digital company specializing in farm-to-table food tracing using blockchain technology. Users can download the app on iOS and Android devices.
Check one, two: During the first phase of the trial, which started in January in the United Arab Emirates, France, U.K., Spain and the Netherlands, passengers still must print the PCR certificates showing their test results. In the second phase, which is planned to start in the next few months, Emirates aims to expand the list of destinations and allow passengers to use the app to validate their test results when checking in.
This is not the first app that GE Digital has developed for air travelers. Last fall, it launched Wellness Trace, an app that gave travelers a way to verify the cleaning protocols inside at the Albany International Airport in New York.
Read more about the TrustOne app partnership here.
COOLEST THINGS ON EARTH ?
1. Mars Voltage
A new rocket thruster design using plasma — electrically charged gas that’s considered the fourth state of matter — could power spacecraft to Mars and beyond.
2. No Sting
Scientists at Washington University have developed a “nearly pain-free” microneedle patch that can detect biomarkers for infections.
3. Image Conscious
A European consortium going under the name BIGPICTURE is compiling the largest database of pathology images to boost the power of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
Learn more here about this week’s Coolest Things on Earth.
— QUOTE OF THE DAY —
“Ultrasound has tremendous power, especially when you are dealing with an unseen.”
— Dr. Balu Vaidyanathan, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kerala, India
Quote: GE Reports. Images: GE Healthcare, OSHU, Emirates,