Touching the lives of over 234 million people
Healthymagination is a six-year, $6 billion mission to improve lives by taking on global health challenges. Over the last two years, the process has led to 43 healthymagination products and services that have touched the lives of over 234 million people so far.
Each healthymagination product or service starts with the question, “What do customers and patients need?” Technology is then developed to address those needs, but before it achieves designation as a healthymagination product, it undergoes a rigorous evidence-based validation process. An independent third-party assessment firm, Oxford Analytica, ensures that multiple independent experts review detailed scientific data. Healthymagination products must be able to improve cost, quality and access of existing technologies by at least 15%.
GE Reports has published Two Years of healthymagination: A Visual Tour to showcase the myriad of new technologies and explain how the healthymagination Validation Process works. Here are some of the global innovations illustrated in the visual tour. Note that some of these innovations are not be commercially available in the United States:
*Brivo DR-F. The Brivo DR-F is designed to deliver all the key benefits of a digital X-ray system at an affordable price, specifically for emerging countries. Dr. Oddoye, clinic director at Akai House Clinic in Accra, Ghana says, “I think the biggest challenges in healthcare are access and affordability.” The Akai House Clinic is able to easily perform 60 or more X-rays a day using the Brivo DR-F, whereas they previously struggled to meet the demand using an analog system. Patients receive a lower radiation dose compared to traditional analog systems and the digital images are of higher quality.
*Lullaby Incubator XP1 Neonatal Intensive Care. This incubator helps manage the complex needs of fragile babies with probes to monitor skin temperature and controls for air and set temperatures, as well as humidity and oxygen levels. Access to the baby is easy for caregivers and parents with six portholes, a slide-out mattress tray and a tilting bed. A built-in X-ray cassette tray and optional in-bed scale help to minimize disruption to the infant during procedures.
*MR-Touch/MR Elastography. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis are worldwide health problems. This technology provides a non-invasive test for liver assessment, minimizing patient discomfort and allowing for more frequent tests when closer monitoring is required. Magnetic Resonance Elastography uses acoustic waves to identify variations in liver tissue stiffness. The Elastogram image provides gastroenterologists with more information than simple external palpation alone. The MR-Touch was developed by GE with the Mayo Clinic.
*Lunar Achilles Insight. The Lunar Achilles Insight Bone Ultrasonometer provides osteoporotic fracture risk assessments that help clinicians provide certainty to patients through a quick exam. Achilles Insight makes proven fracture risk assessment technology widely accessible. It helps provide certainty through accuracy that has been established in more clinical studies that any other similar quantitative ultrasound device. With Achilles Insight, the patient experience is comfortable: the patient is fully clothed and remains seated. Only the heel is tested. The exam is quick, just a few minutes from shoes off to shoes on. The device uses ultrasound technology that does not emit any ionizing radiation. Unlike some other ultrasound procedures, no messy gels are needed and the patient’s foot stays dry.
*QuietCare. Managing falls is a major challenge for assisted-living facilities given that one-third of seniors fall every year. QuietCare is a passive-care monitoring system that learns resident behavior and sends emergency alerts when out-of-the-ordinary events occur or to identify behavior changes that may indicate that a resident needs staff assistance. QuietCare enables residents to have the perception of staying independent longer with a potentially higher degree of safety and wellness. For example, QuietCare can potentially identify if a resident is taking their medication too many times a day or if they have not returned to their bed after visiting the bathroom at night.
CONNECT THE DOTS
Watch a video to hear Dr. Oddoye in Ghana speak about the Brivo DR-F. To read more about other GE Healthymagination innovations highlighted in the Annual Report, click here to read our earlier post. Visit GE Reports to read about trending topics, innovations and news or click here to sign up for email notifications about new GE Reports.
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