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General Electric (GE) Healthcare

Magnetic Resonance (MR)

Information and opinions presented in this article were derived from the author’s interview with Mr. Tom Verghese (GE Healthcare – Chief Marketing Officer, Global MR Business) and supplemented with information from GE’s RSNA media kit, corporate web site and other public information sources.

Summary

GE continues to be a significant presence in the MR arena and to offer several capable MR options.

The Optima™ products are clearly at the forefront GE’s MR strategy. The MR450w (1.5T) is GE’s first wide-bore (70 cm) scanner. It is FDA approved and has been available to customers since 1Q10.

GE was also talking about the Optima™ MR360, a value-oriented 1.5T, closed-bore (60 cm) system that is expected to be available 2Q10 – pending FDA approval. GE was one of the few companies explicitly focused on delivering a full-feature MR system for under US $1 million. If anticipated reimbursement rule changes favor sub-million dollar investments, this strategy will certainly enhance GE’s competitive position.

RSNA Press Releases

GE’s media kit 2010 was used in creation of this article.

Product Line

GE’s current Discovery™ and Optima™ MR product lines are summarized in the table below.

Model	Discovery™ MR750	Discovery™ MR450	Optima™ MR450w	Optima™ MR360
Introduced	2008	2008	2009	2010
Field Strength	3.0 T	1.5 T	1.5 T	1.5 T
Bore Diameter	60 cm	60 cm	70 cm	60 cm
Bore Length	NA	NA	145 cm	NA
Coil Elements (max)	NA	NA	NA	NA
RF Channels (max)	32	32	32	NA
Field of View	48 cm	NA	50 cm	NA
Gradient Field (max)	50 mT/m	50 mT/m	34 mT/m	NA
Slew Rate (max)	200 T/m/s	NA	NA	NA

NA à Information “Not Available”

GE continues to offer other product lines, but these products were not featured at RSNA 2010 The company web site describes several Signa™ products, including closed-bore (3.0T and 1.5T) and open (panoramic – vertical field) models.

Notes:

w The Optima™ MR360 is pending FDA 510(k) review. It is not currently available for sale in the U.S.

w Product data was derived from a combination of four sources:

§ GE’s RSNA 2010 media kit (link),

§ GE Healthcare web site (link) and

§ Aunt Minnie Buyer’s Guide (link).

Discussion

What are GE’s customers most concerned about?

GE MR customers are generally concerned about:

w Reimbursement rules and economics,

w Increasing productivity and reducing scan procedure time without adversely impacting quality of care,

w US $1 million threshold for MR scanner purchases,

w MR application capabilities and

w 70 cm diameter patient bore systems.

What is GE’s current philosophy and focus with the MR market?

Helping customers reduce exam time and increase productivity is a major area of focus. GE delivers benefits through innovative applications. Two examples were offered.

w IDEAL is a GE-exclusive fat and water separation MR imaging technique that delivers four images from one acquisition.

w Automated image acquisition capabilities incorporated into GE MR scanners. Compared to previous methods, these “one touch” operator protocols such as “Read Brain” simultaneously expedite the scanning procedure and improve consistency. Simple “slider bar” settings allow the operator to select from a continuum of image quality versus scan speed options without having to perform manual calculations.

The Optima™ MR360 is a new 1.5T system that’s designed to provide customers with a powerful, versatile system for under US $1 million. GE expects to begin shipping the MR360 in 2Q10 – subject to FDA 510(k) approval.

GE is showing the Optima™ MR450w at RSNA 2009. Is it available now?

The Optima™ MR450w GE’s first 1.5T wide-bore (70 cm) scanner. It is FDA approved and can be ordered now. Customer deliveries will begin in 1Q10.

What is the positioning of the MR450w relative to other GE product lines?

All of GE’s MR systems deliver on the mantra of “no compromises.” Although the company offers four distinct MR product families, they are all capable systems that deliver excellent images.

w Discovery™ MR systems are research-oriented platforms. These “products offer breakthrough applications to those who push the boundaries of what imaging can achieve.”

w Optima™ systems are positioned as GE’s “workhorse” scanners. They “deliver the functionality clinicians need to accommodate high patient volumes, along with designs that improve versatility, throughput and workflow.”

w Brivo™ systems – built in China – are GE’s lowest cost products. They “offer essential functionality in a straightforward and practical package, letting clinicians serve their community with operational needs and quality results.”

w Signa™ is an older brand, but is still sold and supported by GE.

Can customers upgrade from legacy products to the newer Optima™ systems?

GE has historically provided customers with long-term product support and a variety of upgrade options. A MR360 upgrade kit will be available for current GE customers soon. A migration path for customers that prefer the MR450w has not been defined – yet.

Look for more information on interviews conducted at the 2010 RSNA in the upcomming weeks.

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