The GE Healthcare business unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) will spotlight potential connections across the cancer care continuum at the American Society for Radiation Oncology  ( ASTRO ) meeting in Chicago, Ill., Nov. 1-5, 2009.

According to the American Cancer Society, more than one million people are diagnosed with cancer each year. In the United States, about 1 out of every 2 men and 1 out of every 3 women will have some type of cancer at some point during their lifetime. The sooner a cancer is detected and treatment begins, the better the patient`s chances for survival.

"Oncology care is about making connections," said Paul Anderson, General Manager of Oncology for GE Healthcare . "It`s about making the connection between the disease, the treatment, the patients and the multi-disciplinary clinical team."

Need for Sophisticated Imaging

Advances in radiotherapy treatments have required parallel advancements in imaging, providing oncology specialists with imaging technology that moves from basic qualitative information to deliver high-level quantitative patient data. These refinements have allowed oncologists to better target the therapies by connecting all components that are key to personalized patient cancer treatment.
The multi-modality oncology suite connects care from pathways to simulate therapy delivery, to gauging the response to actual treatment, to monitoring its efficacy.

GE`s booth at ASTRO will spotlight the connections between disease and treatment, as well as between clinician and patient. At the same time, broader clinical connections that link patient information, department workflow and oncology management will be demonstrated. Products whose spotlighted advances in cancer diagnostics and care include:

• LightSpeed RT16

• Signa MR Oncology Package

• Discovery PET/CT 600

• LOGIQ P6 UltrasoundCentricity PACS-IW Oncology Workflow

Integrates the web-based design and intuitive interface of PACS-IW with automated PET/CT fusion, analysis and multi-modality reading tools. This integration of oncology image interpretation and review into the multi-modality world of PACS enables clinicians to have easy access to the full set of available clinical information.

GE Healthcare will also showcase its powerful oncology workstation that helps reduce time spent on 4D planning and complex multi-modality cases, while streamlining radiation oncology workflow. As a continuous effort to maintain seamless interoperability, GE joined the IHE-RO task force formed by ASTRO for promoting interoperability between vendors. GE Healthcare successfully passed
the interoperability testing at the annual IHE-RO connectathon and will continue to work together with IHE-RO to advance these efforts.

• AdvantageSim MD

• Advantage 4D

• Advantage Fusion

Enhances tumor definition by automatically co registering CT, PET and MR images.

"We have a long, diverse relationship with the radiation oncology community," said Anderson. " GE Healthcare has forged their own connection to this medical specialty by providing advanced tools and solutions that drive productivity and enhance today`s treatment delivery technologies.

Source: GE Healthcare

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