Singapore – (ACN Newswire) – GE Global Research, the central
technology development arm for GE Healthcare and all of GE’s businesses, has
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Singapore’s Agency of Science,
Technology and Research (A*STAR). This agreement will focus on advancing
current medical imaging technologies and diagnostics to enable more accurate,
earlier and faster clinical diagnoses of cancer and other diseases. The
partnership between A*STAR and GE Global Research brings together two
world-class research institutions, integrating their deep domain expertise in
biomedical, science, and engineering capabilities to support this effort.
This MOU expands upon a productive collaboration between GE
and A*STAR’s Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (SBIC) using Hyperpolarized
Carbon-13 technology. Early results exploring sub second bio-chemical imaging
in Oncology applications helped pave the way for a broader scientific
collaboration on projects in medical diagnostics and medical imaging. The goal
is to improve diagnosis and tissue characterization in diseases that are
prevalent in the Asian population, such as liver, lung, and gastric cancers.
Michael Idelchik, Vice President of Advanced Technology
Programs at GE Global Research, said, “To more effectively combat cancer
and other deadly diseases, more advanced diagnostic tools will be needed to
help doctors become more prescriptive in their diagnoses and treatment
regimens. Combining A*STAR’s world-class biomedical and clinical expertise with
GE’s strengths in diagnostic and molecular imaging, we have an exciting
opportunity to take medical diagnosis to this next level. Specifically, A*STAR
will help us address cancers and other diseases more common in Asia and where
pathology and outcomes are different as compared to the rest of the
world.”
Professor Low Teck Seng, Managing Director of A*STAR, said,
“This win-win public-private partnership between A*STAR and GE comes at an
opportune time with the increasing research interest in diseases affecting the
Asian population. I am confident that A*STAR’s cross-disciplinary capabilities
in both the biomedical, and physical sciences & engineering research will
complement GE’s expertise in diagnostic and molecular imaging to meet today’s
complex healthcare challenges and enhance lives.”
As part of the MOU, A*STAR and GE Global Research will
collaborate to enhance medical imaging technologies in imaging modalities,
ranging from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography
(PET) to computed tomography (CT).
In a Frost & Sullivan global market analysis report, the
medical imaging sector was valued at about US$25 billion as of 2008, with MRI
and CT scanners accounting for a combined 40% of the total global device
medical imaging market. In one project, scientists from A*STAR’s Institute of
Microelectronics (IME) and GE scientists will explore the development of new
imaging technologies to improve the speed and accuracy of clinical cancer
diagnosis. Leveraging IME’s network and partnerships with the microelectronics
industry, this project could result in the development of a new local industry
for Singapore
in the healthcare technologies area.
In another project, A*STAR’s Singapore Bioimaging Consortium
(SBIC) and GE plan to develop novel imaging markers for hepatic cellular
carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of liver cancer in Asia. This project
will integrate biomedical imaging and pre-clinical model development expertise
from SBIC with GE’s molecular diagnostics technology to develop innovative,
proprietary platforms to help advance the unique characterization of HCC in
each patient. In this manner, the goal is that a specific type of cancer would
be identified and the therapy tailored to each patient. This project
encompasses a range of medical diagnostic technologies from imaging to
molecular pathology biomarkers appropriate to HCC, relevant to the Asian
population. Building on a close partnership with local hospitals, success in
this project may lead to accelerated and accurate cancer diagnosis that enables
more prescriptive and effective cancer treatments for patients. This will
support A*STAR’s efforts to develop Singapore as a Center for Oncology
and Molecular Pathology.
About GE Global Research
GE Global Research is one of the world’s most diversified industrial research
labs, providing innovative technology for all of GE’s businesses. Global
Research has been the cornerstone of GE technology for more than 100 years,
developing breakthrough innovations in areas such as medical imaging, energy
generation technology, jet engines and lighting. GE Global Research is
headquartered in Niskayuna, New
York and has facilities in Bangalore,
India, Shanghai,
China and Munich, Germany.
Visit GE Global Research at www.ge.com/research.
About A*STAR
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is the lead agency for
fostering world-class scientific research and talent for a vibrant
knowledge-based and innovation-driven Singapore. A*STAR oversees 14
biomedical sciences and physical sciences and engineering research institutes,
and six consortia & centres, located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis as well
as their immediate vicinity. A*STAR supports Singapore’s key economic clusters
by providing intellectual, human and industrial capital to its partners in
industry. It also supports extramural research in the universities, and with
other local and international partners. For more information about A*STAR,
please visit www.a-star.edu.sg.