GE Healthcare, the healthcare business of General Electric (GE), will highlight sustainable healthcare with a focus on earlier diagnosis through innovative technologies, products and solutions at an upcoming regional healthcare event.

Arab Health 2010, the Middle East’s leading healthcare expo, will be held from January 25 to 28, 2010, at the Dubai International Convention Centre.

GE Healthcare is the platinum sponsor of the exhibition and the commercial gold supporter of three key conferences on anesthesia, molecular imaging & nuclear medicine and Middle East Imaging and Diagnostics, being held on the sidelines of the event.

The focus of GE will be to highlight their commitment to creating technology to deliver healthier experiences for the caregiver and the patient, said a statement.

This complements the ‘healthymagination’ approach helping patients live longer, healthier lives by lowering costs, touching more lives and improving quality of healthcare delivery.

“We are very pleased to be a part of Arab Health again this year and privileged to present to industry experts, institutions and the public the latest GE Healthcare innovations and highlight our commitment to ‘healthymagination’,” said Aziz Koleilat, general manager at GE Healthcare for the Middle East region.

“Arab Health is a definitive platform for the medical professionals and the industry in the region, providing GE Healthcare the opportunity to highlight our advanced technologies and solutions at the exhibition.”

He added: “People want to receive care on a priority basis either at a primary care level or at home - and innovative technologies will help us to achieve this. Led by this need, we expect to form stronger public and private partnerships that will enable the effective transformation of healthcare delivery across the region.”

According to estimates by independent agencies, healthcare costs in the Arab world are expected to grow five-fold to $60 billion by 2025 with cardiac care being one of the most expensive.

“Earlier diagnosis is of critical importance in reducing the cost of healthcare delivery,” explained Koleilat.

GE Healthcare will showcase an extensive range of new healthymagination ultrasound products, system expansions and breakthroughs at Arab Health, the statement added.

Among the highlights are Venue 40, the first product in GE’s new Venue miniaturized ultrasound product line, and also the first new product validated under GE’s healthymagination initiative – dedicated to improving the quality, access and cost of healthcare.

An innovation that will drive early diagnosis is MR-Touch, a visual palpation device that uses low frequency mechanical sound waves in combination with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure tissue elasticity. MR-Touch is a certified healthymagination product, according to the statement.

Visitors can also get an overview of gemstone spectral imaging (GSI) for CT.  Spectral Imaging marks a new generation of computed tomography (CT) imaging – allowing for an effective and efficient diagnosis.

One major clinical advantage of spectral imaging is to aid in the characterization of lesions. In cases where spectral imaging avoids additional diagnostic tests, healthcare costs and patient anxiety can be avoided.

“These technologies underscore GE’s thought-leadership in understanding the health challenges facing the region and addressing those needs with imaging solutions including mammography, which is of crucial importance to the Middle East region,” added Koleilat.

“In addition to lifestyle diseases like diabetes, heart conditions and obesity-related problems, the region also has reported high incidence of breast cancer. Through earlier diagnosis, these problems can potentially be addressed effectively,” Koleilat concluded. – TradeArabia News Service