CHICAGO–(BUSINESS
WIRE)–Today at RSNA 2011, GE Healthcare introduced the
innovative Magnetic Resonance (MR) Patient Experience Suite, part of its healthymagination
strategy to improve the quality of patient care. The suite aims to ‘humanize
radiology by softening the clinical look, feel and sound of a traditional MR
exam.

“GE is very serious about humanizing radiology and making
its MR systems patient-friendly, safe and without compromise,” said Jacques
Coumans, general manager for Premium MR Systems at GE Healthcare. “The new MR
Suite allows a patient to be ‘transported to Tahiti, the Appalachians
or the Keukenhof for the duration of an MR exam. The design of the suite allows
a patient to choose the audio-visual content of the MR Suite to help reduce
anxiety.”

The MR Patient Experience Suite was conceived by GE Global
Design and was created by PDC Facilities, Inc., to reflect the award-winning
themes of GEs w-series (wide bore) MR. The suite incorporates the ‘caring
hands design philosophy of the Discovery* MR750w system, with lighting,
interior décor, scenery and music or sounds that can be customized by the
patient using his or her own portable media player. Light, form, color,
materials and texture transform the exam environment from one that is cold and
clinical to, for example, a home library and fireside.

Different patient age groups have different needs. The MR
Patient Experience Suite addresses those needs with special moods and themes
for pediatric and geriatric patients. To further soften the feel of an MR exam,
GE Healthcare teamed up with VisualTherapy’s Joey Fischer, an expert in nature
photography who pioneered the use of imagery to help reduce the stress and
anxiety of patients undergoing diagnostic or therapeutic medical procedures.

The w-series also incorporates the GEM Suite of
patient-embracing, lightweight radio frequency (RF) coils, designed to adapt to
varying patient shapes, and which enables feet-first exams for all anatomies,
aimed at reducing patient anxiety.

The MR Patient Experience Suite is based on award-winning
designs of GE Healthcares 3.0T and 1.5T w-series (wide bore) MR systems, which
debuted a year ago. The w-series received the prestigious IDEA® Silver Award
for patient-centric MR design by the Industrial Designers Society of America
(IDSA) earlier this year.

The modular elements of the MR Patient Experience Suite can
be ordered from, and installed by, PDC Facilities with any of GEs w-series MR
systems as of January 2012.

GE Healthcare at RSNA 2011

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 3335 in
the McCormick Place south
hall. Throughout the week of the event, GE Healthcare will distribute news and
information using these digital platforms:

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 reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality 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.

Posted by Sean Fenske, Editor-in-Chief, MDT