07 Mar GE Healthcare imaging tool finds first use in cardiology
Milwaukee — GE Healthcare said it has installed its first volume computed tomography scanner, which takes pictures of internal organs, to be used exclusively by a cardiologist.
Round Rock Cardiology in Texas will use GE’s LightSpeed VCT to quickly scan patients’ hearts and nearby arteries. GE said the scans take less time than five heartbeats. By rotating and quickly creating 64 images, LightSpeed builds up a three-dimensional view.
The scanner entered general clinical use at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee last June and has been installed in several other places.
“GE listened to luminary cardiologists and customers who told us that imaging the heart in five or fewer beats was an urgent clinical need,” Laura King, a vice president at GE Healthcare, said in a release.
GE Healthcare is a division of General Electric and accounted for 8.8 percent of the company’s revenues in 2004, according to GE’s annual statement, up from 7.6 percent in 2003 and 6.8 percent in 2002.