OREANDA-NEWS. July 10, 2012. GE Healthcare today joined Virtua, a New Jersey-based healthcare system, in jointly announcing a technology exposition and facility tour to be held at Virtua’s Barry D. Brown Health Education Center and its new hospital in Voorhees, New Jersey this week Thursday, July 12. Open to New Jersey and Philadelphia-area health care professionals and the media, the technology expo will showcase some of the most advanced diagnostic imaging solutions in clinical use today – including women’s health, Computed Tomography (CT) and other innovative health care technologies. Keynote speakers at the technology expo will also address trending developments and best practices for hospital leaders in today’s challenging health care landscape.

“In today’s dynamic healthcare environment, it is essential that industry leaders collaborate closely with clinicians and hospital leadership to innovate and deliver solutions that address the most pressing needs in patient care,” said GE Healthcare’s Marcelo Mosci, president and CEO, US and Canada Region. “GE Healthcare is pleased to join Virtua, already a leader in diagnostic imaging, to provide further educational opportunities and highlight the latest advances in radiology through this special event.” 

The exposition will highlight the latest technologies for meeting clinical diagnostic needs, from high-resolution mammograms and low dose CT exams and advanced ultrasound solutions.

“Virtua is pleased to host this event as we share both clinical and product expertise with fellow health care professionals to help promote excellence in diagnostic imaging and optimized patient care,” said Rich Miller, Virtua President and CEO.

Facility tours and speaker sessions for hospital leaders will also discuss equipment management and integration, reimbursement information, clinical workflow, and two increasingly top-of-mind discussions in the health care environment: U.S. health care reform, and low radiation dose, high performance CT imaging.

Specifically showcased at Virtua will be GE Healthcare technologies that help physicians lower patient CT radiation dose, including: ASiR*^ image reconstruction technology, available across the GE Healthcare CT portfolio and used on over 1,200 systems for more than 12 million patient exams to date; and Veo*^, a leading image reconstruction technology now in use at Virtua that has already enabled doctors elsewhere to achieve profoundly clear chest CT images in some cases with less than 1 millisievert (mSv) of dose. For perspective, traditional chest CT scans can expose patients to anywhere from 5-10 mSv of radiation dose, and natural background radiation exposes the average American to around 3 mSv per year. †

As part of its leadership in providing high quality care, Virtua plans to open a new Ambulatory Diagnostic Imaging Center at its Health and Wellness Center in Voorhees featuring the latest technologies in radiology for optimizing patient care. The Center is scheduled for opening in December 2012. The Pediatric Imaging portion of the center will be done in partnership with The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

* Trademark of General Electric Company

^ In clinical practice, the use of ASiR or Veo may reduce CT patient dose depending on the clinical task, patient size, anatomical location and clinical practice. A consultation with a radiologist and a physicist should be made to determine the appropriate dose to obtain diagnostic image quality for the particular clinical task.