GE Healthcare
PRESS RELEASE
GE Healthcare receives FDA clearance for an advanced imaging tool,
FlightPlan for Liver: A breakthrough in liver embolization
FlightPlan for Liver enables physicians to plan liver embolization with confidence
CHICAGO — November 25, 2012 — GE Healthcare (NYSE: GE) today announced at RSNA 2012 receipt of U.S. FDA clearance
for its advanced imaging tool, FlightPlan for Liver. Developed to help make intricate liver embolization procedures simpler,
FlightPlan for Liver has been commercially available in Europe, Latin America and Asia since 2011, with more than 30
installations in more than 10 countries.
Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer in men (523 000 cases per year, 7.9% of the total) and the seventh in women
(226 000 cases per year, 6.5% of the total)1. In response, liver embolization is a standard palliative treatment for liver
cancer aiming at blocking the blood supply to the tumor. However, the identification of the vessels feeding the tumor can
be difficult and time consuming due to the liver being highly vascularized in nature. Today, techniques using 2D and 3D
imaging have limitations, often requiring significant amounts of time, radiation, and contrast media.
GE’s breakthrough solution: Automatic identification of tumor vicinity vessels
GE Healthcare’s FlightPlan for Liver helps interventionalists plan their liver embolization procedures. The physician simply
needs to select the tip of the catheter and a hypervascular tumor on a 3D image, and let the software highlight the vessels
traveling from the catheter to the lesion’s vicinity. The highlighted vessels can then be used as a 3D roadmap with the
Innova* Vision application, and superimposed on the live fluoroscopic image to help the doctor guide the catheter into the
target artery.
“The development of this technology for liver embolization is a great example of how collaborative work between
physicians and engineers can help cancer patients. In three simple steps, the interventional radiologist can untangle the
complex tumor vessels in the liver to immediately demonstrate which vessels feed the liver cancer and require catheter
directed treatment,” said Dr. Stephen B. Solomon, Chief of Interventional Radiology Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center.
In effect, FlightPlan for Liver has the potential to extend the technique to more practitioners as it helps improve the
confidence in performing this difficult procedure.
“This solution exemplifies our continuous efforts to provide to interventionalists solutions to plan, guide and assess their
procedures. With FlightPlan for Liver, interventionalists can gain confidence in identifying tumor-feeding vessels and be
more selective when planning liver embolization. With the collaboration of leading cancer institutions such as Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), the Institut Gustave Roussy (IGR) and Beaujon Hospital, we can develop clinical
tools that make a true difference to the doctors and more importantly to the patients,” said Chantal Le Chat, General
Manager, Premium Angiography, Detection & Guidance Solutions, GE Healthcare.
1
http://globocan.iarc.fr/factsheets/cancers/liver.asp
* Trademark of General Electric Company.
GE Healthcare at RSNA 2012
Each year in Chicago, the conference of the Radiological Association 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 5433 in McCormick Place south hall. Throughout the week of the event, GE Healthcare will distribute news
and information using these digital platforms:
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About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our
broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug
discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services
help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with
healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable
healthcare systems.
Our “healthymagination” vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop
innovations focused on increasing access and improving quality and affordability around the world. Headquartered in the
United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are
committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about
GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com. For our latest news, please visit
http://newsroom.gehealthcare.com.
Media Contact
Pilar Anton Serrano
GE Healthcare
pilar.antonserrano@ge.com
+33665874751