GE Healthcare To Be The Sole Supplier Of Leading Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Technology At The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Main Category: MRI / PET / Ultrasound
Article Date: 05 Mar 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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GE Healthcare a division of General Electric (NYSE: GE), announced its role as the sole supplier of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Installed at the Olympic Village General Hospital, two of GE Healthcare's advanced MRI technologies, the Signa HDe 1.5T will be accessible to be used on all international competing athletes during the Games.

These technologies within close proximity of all the sporting competitions will enable clinicians to diagnose potential injuries earlier or simply monitor treatment with a view to maximize the time of play for an athlete - in other words, ensure a quick return to play. Every day an athlete spends in rehab is a day lost in training, which is why diagnosing injuries earlier or monitoring the recovery in real time is crucial for elite performance.

Sports medicine is an advanced discipline focused on assisting athletes in achieving their optimum performances while ensuring their physical and psychological integrity. This requires sports physicians to equip themselves with the best available technologies in the field of medical imaging allowing them to have an earlier and more accurate diagnosis platform.

MRI: Indispensable Tool for Diagnosing Sports Injuries

With the development of new MR systems and techniques over the past five to ten years, GE Healthcare's MR technologies have become a valuable tool for diagnosing sports related injuries showcased already at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games, alongside some other medical imaging devices offering a complete medical solution for athletes.

"At GE Healthcare we are very pleased to be the sole supplier of MRI equipment for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Using GE Healthcare technology and expertise, clinicians can detect and diagnose injury and disease earlier and ensure better patient care. All athletes run a risk of injury and our experience in sports medicine as well as our customer feedback tells us how important it has become for athletes to have advanced MR technology such as the Signa HDe 1.5T on-site during training and competition at the Olympic Village General Hospital" commented Chih Chen, President of GE Healthcare China.

MR imaging as a non-invasive technique proves to be an optimal means of acquiring high-contrast images of both the bone structures and the soft tissue structures, which together create a complex joint such as the knee or shoulder. These body parts are of high risk for athletes as musculoskeletal injuries can occur any time. This leads to the need to have leading imaging technologies such as MRI close to the game of play available to sports physicians to more accurately monitor an athlete's condition enabling more tailored training and recovery protocols to be devised.

In addition, GE Healthcare's Signa HDe 1.5T will help clinicians at the Olympic Village General Hospital not only benefit from high-definition images, but also decreased operation costs (water, electricity, liquid helium,) by up to 40 percent.

About GE and the Olympic Games

GE is the exclusive provider of a wide range of innovative products and services that are integral to staging a successful Games. GE works closely with host countries, cities and organizing committees to provide infrastructure solutions for Olympic venues including power, lighting, water treatment, transportation and security, and to supply hospitals with ultrasound and MRI equipment to help doctors treat athletes. In addition, NBC Universal, a division of GE, is the exclusive U.S. media partner of the Olympic Games, with its partnership also extending through 2012.

GE (NYSE: GE) is Imagination at Work - a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and advanced materials. GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide.

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 $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 http://www.gehealthcare.com.

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