GE Healthcare announces CE marking

GE will highlight the system at the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), beginning April 19 in Geneva, Switzerland. Part of GE’s MR Radiation Oncology offerings, the 1.5T GEM RT Open Head & Neck Suite combined with GE’s Optima* 450w GEM MR scanner, enables high-resolution, large field of view scanning of the head and neck.

The array was designed specifically for imaging for radiation therapy planning. Its open design and flexible GEM coils that conform to the patient’s anatomy offer the opportunity to scan a patient comfortably with their face area fully open, while simultaneously delivering excellent image quality in the treatment position.

With an estimated global incidence of 533,000 cases each year, head and neck cancer is the fifth most common cancer worldwide. Radiation therapy often plays a significant role in treating head and neck cancers; however when organs at risk are irradiated, patients can experience adverse reactions including taste impairment, decreased salivary function, and difficulty swallowing.

The use of MR to help plan for radiation treatment is on the rise as it provides excellent soft tissue visualisation of tumours and the surrounding organs to help focus the maximum amount of radiation. GE’s GEM RT Open Head & Neck suite provides diagnostic quality images of the head, neck, and brachial plexus anatomies, helping physicians treat tumours effectively and reduce damage to nearby normal tissues.

“In radiation therapy, optimal imaging is critical for treatment planning as it enables us to both escalate radiation dose to the tumour site and reduce unnecessary radiation exposure to non-cancerous tissue,” said Steven J. Frank, MD Associate Professor and Director of Advanced Technologies in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. “The more confidently a radiation oncologist can identify the specific margins of a tumour and adjacent normal tissue, the more confident he or she can be in ensuring effective treatment and improving patient’s quality of life.”

“While our priority in cancer treatment is always getting the right treatment to the right location, it is also our responsibility as physicians to ensure that the patient is comfortable and at ease as much as possible throughout the process,” said Dr. Aad van der Lugt, Professor of Neuroradiology/Head and Neck Radiology at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. “With the ability to deliver excellent image quality of the head and neck in an open manner, the new head and neck coil suite from GE enables us to a leap forward in terms of quality of care, while enabling a positive patient experience.”

“At GE Healthcare, we know that cancer treatment is a difficult and stressful time for patients, so we are committed to doing all we can to improve the patient experience while enabling clinicians to deliver care efficiently and effectively,” said Sandra Shave, Product Manager at GE Healthcare. “Our new GEM RT Open Head & Neck suite is a perfect example of that commitment as it provides a comfortable solution for the patient, while delivering high-resolution MR images which may help physicians improve patient care.”

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death globally. At GE, we envision a day when cancer is no longer a deadly disease. The introduction of the GEM Radiation Therapy Open Head & Neck Coil Suite reinforces our commitment to cancer, and reflects our current integrated portfolio as well as our $1B R&D investment to advance oncology solutions by 2016.