Setting Helium Free: Revolutionary MRI Tech From GE Healthcare
November 29 2016 - 11:00AM
Business Wire
Freelium, a magnet technology, designed to use 20 liters of
liquid helium instead of 2,000 liters
Helium, a critical component in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
systems, has gone through two potential shortage crises, impacting
hospitals and patients around the globe. But the helium supply is
finite and demand has been rising over the past decades. At
#RSNA16, GE Healthcare (NYSE:GE) proudly unveils Freelium*, a
magnet technology designed to use one percent of liquid helium
compared to conventional MRI magnets. Instead of the average 2,000
liters of precious liquid helium, Freelium is designed to use only
about 20 liters.
MRI uses superconducting magnets cooled to minus 452 degrees
Fahrenheit in order to take hi-def pictures of a patient’s brain,
vital organs, or soft tissue. The only way to keep MRI magnets
currently in clinical use that cold is by using thousands of liters
of liquid helium mined from below the earth’s crust.
Magnets with Freelium technology are designed to be less
dependent on helium, much easier to site, and eco-friendly. Thanks
to Freelium technology, hospitals would no longer need extensive
venting that often necessitates siting a magnet in a separate
building or newly constructed room. Additionally, a Freelium magnet
would not need any refilling during transportation nor throughout
its lifetime. Therefore, when the Freelium technology is integrated
into a commercialized product in the future, it could make MRI more
accessible and less expensive to site and operate. This is
particularly important in developing regions that lack necessary
infrastructure, and in major metropolitan cities where siting a
magnet can cost more than the magnet itself. Patients who currently
do not have access to the diagnostic benefits of MRI today may have
access in the future due to this breakthrough technology.
“At GE Healthcare, we work to solve our customers’ biggest
problems,” said Stuart Feltham, magnet engineering leader of GE
Healthcare MR. “The fact that MRIs require so much liquid helium
adds cost, complication, and makes the systems difficult to
install; Freelium technology is designed to aggressively address
these challenges. It’s a revolutionary advance for the industry and
we look forward to integrating Freelium technology into MRI systems
so clinicians and their patients can benefit from it in the near
future. There is still more than 70 percent of world’s population
with no access to MRI. Our vision is to leverage this low-helium
technology to increase worldwide accessibility of MRI so that more
people can benefit from its diagnostic capabilities.”
To learn more about this revolutionary MRI tech, tune in to GE
Healthcare’s Facebook Live broadcast Tuesday, November 29 at 12:00
pm EST: http://invent.ge/2g7aScJ
* Freelium is technology in development that represents ongoing
research and development efforts. This technology is not a product
and may never become part of a product. Not for sale. Not cleared
or approved by the U.S. FDA or any other global regulator for
commercial availability.
GE Healthcare at #RSNA16
Each year in Chicago, the conference of the Radiological Society
of North America (RSNA) provides a forum for showcasing the latest
innovations in medical imaging. If you are attending the
conference, please visit GE Healthcare at booth number 4137 in
McCormick Place south hall.
For more news from GE Healthcare at #RSNA16, please visit our
digital press kit: http://www.gehealthcare.com/rsna2016
About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and
services to meet the demand for increased access, enhanced quality
and more affordable healthcare around the world. GE (NYSE:GE) works
on things that matter - great people and technologies taking on
tough challenges. From medical imaging, software & IT, patient
monitoring and diagnostics to drug discovery, biopharmaceutical
manufacturing technologies and performance improvement solutions,
GE Healthcare helps medical professionals deliver great healthcare
to their patients. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit
our website at www.gehealthcare.com.
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GE HealthcareAmanda Gintoft, +1
414-412-7062amanda.gintoft@ge.com
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