GE Healthcare's diagnostic guidance imaging systems to support improved cancer care in Middle East

Among the solutions highlighted were the SenoBright* Contrast Enhanced Spectral Mammography (CESM) and FlightPlan for Liver, that have the potential to help healthcare providers improve outcomes in breast and liver cancer for the region's anticipated 140 million1 and 12 million2 cases respectively, across the Middle East.

SenoBright* Contrast Enhanced Spectral Mammography (CESM)
Launched in 2010, developed in the Middle East in collaboration with the Qatar Science & Technology Park and available worldwide, the innovative SenoBright* Contrast Enhanced Spectral Mammography (CESM) is helping healthcare providers to improve the diagnosis of breast cancer using GE's latest developments in digital mammography. SenoBright uses X-rays at multiple energies to create two separate but almost simultaneous exposures. The resulting images specifically illuminate and highlight the areas of interest through contrast visualization.

SenoBright is intended to allow for a procedure to be conducted potentially on the same day as a traditional screening exam and can be operated using the same mammography equipment and staff, thereby helping medical professionals cut the critical time patients often have to wait from detection to diagnosis by up to 30 days.

"Mammography is the standard in breast cancer screening, delivering proven clinical outcomes, however, the sensitivity and specificity of images can be impacted by a range of factors which are not always visible on regular x-ray sometimes leading to misdiagnosis. SenoBright is helping radiologists localize known or suspected lesions using a unique imaging method which combines digital mammography, low-and high-energy x-rays and a common contrast agent to highlight lesions through contrast visualization. The insights gained through SenoBright enables physicians in diagnosis and treatment, and can help improve the patient experience. With Senobright now available around the globe we are seeing increasing demand for this solution across the Middle East and North Africa, Turkey & Central Asia," said Marc Mougel, EAGM Detection & Guidance Solutions General Manager.

Mougel added, "Since 1965, GE Healthcare has made significant progress in providing solutions for breast cancer detection and diagnosis that really bring a change to people's lives. In fact, we've committed to invest $1bn in oncology R&D by 2016, to deliver new products to market, manufacture of biopharmaceuticals and continued oncology research. These technologies enable us to respond to the health priorities of governments across the region, including the UAE and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who are working to tackle the rising burden of cancer. We remain focused on working with our public and private partners to support these priorities as a key provider of mammography diagnostic technology across the region."

In Saudi Arabia, GE's Healthymagination initiative is best exemplified by the breast cancer screening programme being implemented by the Ministry of Health with the support of various public and private sector partners and NGOs, including King Fahad Medical City, Saudi Cancer Society, GE and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

The programme focuses on increasing the awareness of breast cancer on early diagnosis, encouraging women to undertake screening through easy access, advanced digital mammography and timely after-care. The Ministry of Health has deployed three GE Healthymagination mobile clinics featuring trained female radiographers and other support staff to undertake the screening programme.

GE also launched a US$100 million Open Innovation Challenge globally to find and fund ideas to accelerate the detection of breast cancer.

FlightPlan for Liver
GE's breakthrough FlightPlan for Liver automatically highlights tumor vicinity vessels to help interventionalists plan their liver embolization procedures. Using the FlightPlan for Liver, the physician simply needs to select the tip of the catheter and a hypervascular tumor on a 3D image, and let the software highlight the vessels traveling from the catheter to the lesion's vicinity. The highlighted vessels can then be used as a 3D roadmap with the Innova* Vision application, and superimposed on the live fluoroscopic image to help the doctor guide the catheter into the target artery.

FlightPlan for Liver has the potential to extend the technique to more practitioners as it helps improve the confidence in performing this difficult procedure.