President and CEO of the World Health Unit of GE Healthcare, John Dineen, made his first professional visit to Israel last week. During his stay, Mr Dineen visited the Rambam Health Care Campus (RHCC), where he discussed ways to continue collaboration between RHCC and GE Healthcare, a medical technology development leader, which enjoys a yearly sales turnover of 17 billion dollars.
 |
|
Director of RHCC Prof Rafi Beyar, President and CEO of the World Health Unit of GE Healthcare Mr John Dineen and CEO of GE Healthcare Israel Mr Toby Bachar at Rambam with the new combined nuclear medical camera and CT scanner (from right to left). |
President and CEO of the World Health Unit of GE Healthcare, Mr John Dineen, visited Rambam last week and spoke with hospital administration members about ways to continue collaboration between the two bodies. Dineen, who arrived at Rambam directly from a visit at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, was greatly impressed by Israel’s technological innovations and advanced research in the life sciences. The CEO of GE Healthcare Israel, Mr Toby Bachar, assigned great importance to the visit. “GE Healthcare is a leading contributor to advanced applications of medical technologies. The company provides dedicated and efficient service to its clients and works to advance the vision of “preventive medicine”, to the early detection and prevention of diseases.”
The Rambam visit concentrated on two sites: the MRI Institute and the Department of Nuclear Medicine.
At the MRI Institute, Mr Dineen showed great interest in advanced research applications carried out with the use of MRI. He also took special notice of research currently conducted in cooperation with the Technion and different high tech companies on development of non-invasive brain surgery. At Rambam’s advanced Department of Nuclear Medicine, Mr Dineen examined the nuclear cardiac camera (Discovery NM 530c) developed at GE Healthcare’s research center. Using miniature detectors, this device measures blood flow in the heart muscle, and non-invasively accesses heart function.
This medical camera evaluates blood flow to heart muscles within three to five minutes, rather than the 15 to 20 minutes required by conventional nuclear medical cameras used in medical centers throughout the world. The new camera also subjects patients to reduced levels of radioactivity. Scientist at GE Healthcare Israel succeeded in combining the Discovery 530c with a 64-slice CT device to create another innovative, and more advanced, model: the Discovery NM/CT570c. This device provides views of the anatomy of blood vessels going to the heart and detects whether there are blockages. To this point, the device is used in only two medical centers worldwide: Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa and the University of Zurich, Switzerland.
The company defines the device’s combined functions as revolutionary: Nathan Hermony, Global Manager of Nuclear Medicine Business at GE Healthcare said, “Nothing of this scale has been seen in the field of nuclear cardiology for the last 50 years. This technology gives us the opportunity to significantly improve patient diagnosis and care.”
According to RHCC Director Prof Rafi Beyar, “The Discovery NM/CT570c enables rapid diagnosis and much shorter examination time for heart diseases as compared to other devices. This is further testimony to how collaboration between medicine and global industry lead to breakthroughs that change the face of medicine.”
Prof Ora Israel, head of the Nuclear Medicine Institute at RHCC stated, “Rambam is delighted to be part of the process of developing the Discovery NM/CT570c.”
GE Healthcare in Israel participates in developing the world’s most sophisticated technologies in the area of medical imaging (ultrasound, nuclear medicine, MRI and CT). The company employs some 400 employees in Israel. Its offices are located in the technological park at Tirat Carmel, near Haifa.