The GE Brief: January 28, 2021
Andargachew Haileselassie already had a big job. “Andy,” as he’s known to his colleagues at GE Aviation, trains maintenance technicians who service thousands of GE engines that power passenger jets around the world. Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, airlines would send their employees to Doha, Qatar — home to one of six global training facilities run by GE Aviation and its partner Safran Aircraft Engines — where Haileselassie would teach them everything from inspecting combustion chambers to mending compressor blades. But like teachers the world over, he had to adjust to the new virtual reality and move his classes online.
Screen time: Haileselassie, who has 30 years of experience, held remote classes for 577 virtual students from 26 airlines last year. “Virtual training shouldn’t completely replace physical training,” says Eric Gituma, senior technician at Kenya Airways. “But it comes in handy to bridge the gap.” The GE team continues to process customer feedback, and there are plans to furnish a classroom at GE Aviation’s Customer Technical Education Center in Cincinnati with new cameras and lighting. Solutions, such as augmented-reality tools, are further down the road. "Our courses complement the training any propulsion mechanic receives," explains Shannon Korson, customer training manager at the center.
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HEALIN’ ON THE EDGE
Clinicians have been turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to help them process reams of clinical data in a short time and discover valuable insights. Advanced algorithms, for example, can help speed the diagnosis and treatment of pneumothorax, cancer and COVID-19 complications. But in the hospital setting, AI can encounter unique challenges, including privacy regulations and standardization issues that may arise, say, when analyzing data from different MRI scanners. But there’s a solution and it’s called edge computing.
Doctor data: Putting computers at the “edge” means placing them as close as possible to patients and doctors, right at the point of care where exams and diagnoses take place. While putting the power of artificial intelligence at doctors' fingertips, computers can still connect to networks of supercomputers elsewhere. The approach can dramatically increase the speed and security of the data being analyzed.
The edge of today, and tomorrow: Last fall, GE Healthcare introduced its latest edge computing technology, Edison HealthLink, which can aggregate, analyze, display and share data from a network of clinical devices. And it gives its users a way to connect to GE Healthcare’s powerful Edison intelligence platform, host to dozens of applications that allow clinicians to perform tasks like analyzing high-res brain scans and measuring a given patient’s aggregate radiation and iodine exposure. Keith Dreyer, chief data science officer at Boston’s Mass General Brigham, has been testing the Edison ecosystem and hopes it could help doctors predict whether COVID-19 patients will take a turn for the worse.
Learn more here.
COOLEST THINGS ON EARTH ?
1. Think Fast!
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are working on “robomorphic computing” technologies that help bridge the gap between robot brains and robot bodies, enabling machines to move more quickly.
2. Great Regenerations
Scientists at Germany’s Ruhr-Universität Bochum used gene therapy to get paralyzed mice to walk again.
3. Young Again
Researchers at Stanford University have identified immune cells that they think could be key to preventing or reversing age-related cognitive decline.
Learn more here about this week’s Coolest Things on Earth.
— QUOTE OF THE DAY —
“More and more AI is getting embedded into systems like medical imaging and patient monitoring.”
— Amit Phadnis, chief digital officer and vice president at GE Healthcare
Quote: GE Reports. Images: GE Aviation, GE Healthcare.