See the 0.1-millimeter plaque clearly and drill into the 0.6-millimeter thinnest blood vessel! GE continues to focus on interventional imaging

Recently, in the medical equipment procurement market, there is a best-selling item that is particularly sought-after: GE Healthcare's ultra-high-end CT equipment. Not only are top-tier hospitals competing for it, but even county-level hospitals have started to configure it!

What magic does this device, which costs tens of millions of yuan, have that makes major hospitals compete to purchase it?

All the national regional medical centers are using it. What's the background?

Recently, the procurement results of two national-level regional medical centers of traditional Chinese medicine have been announced. GE Healthcare's Revolution Apex Expert ultra-high-end spiral CT has consecutively won the bids: Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Qinghai Hospital 21.1 million yuan, Guang 'anmen Hospital Jinan Hospital 21.8 million yuan.

Even more astonishing is the centralized procurement by the Health Commission of Zhejiang Province. GE Healthcare won an order for 18 units at one go, with a total value of up to 245 million yuan! Among them, Revolution CT Power, 13 units, 165 million; Revolution Apex Expert, 5 units, 79.685 million.

The secret of full-scene coverage from top-tier cities to county-level regions.

The winning bid situation of GE Healthcare in the first half of this year is particularly interesting. From the high-end markets such as the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University (11.99 million yuan) and Baoji Maternal and Child Health Hospital (17.78 million yuan), to the grassroots markets like Yunnan Yanshan County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (16.968 million yuan) and Ulanqab Central Hospital (14.187 million yuan).

The most surprising thing is that even a county-level hospital like Yanshan County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine has started to purchase ultra-high-end CT scanners.

GE Healthcare's move this time can be described as precise：

• For top-tier hospitals, the focus is on scientific research functions, such as conducting component analysis of coronary artery plaques.

• For county-level hospitals, it is emphasized that "one machine has multiple uses", which can not only conduct routine examinations but also meet the certification requirements of the chest pain center.

• For maternity and child hospitals: Emphasize low-dose techniques to reduce the radiation level for fetal examinations to a safe range.

What does this indicate? GE Healthcare is playing a strategy of "conquering both high and low markets". The high-end models rely on ECG-less cardiac scanning and a 16cm wide-body detector. Two major "black technologies" are that patients can undergo heart examinations without attaching electrode patches, which is particularly suitable for emergency departments and children. The other one is a 16cm wide-body detector, which is equivalent to taking CT scans with a "wide-angle lens", covering the entire heart in one scan. It also has a rotational speed of 0.28 seconds per revolution, which is even faster than blinking. Even the most active patients can take clear pictures.

Interventional imaging new moves, hand in hand with Gentuity to achieve great things.

Recently, GE Healthcare has another significant collaboration, which is a strategic partnership with Gentuity, focusing on intravascular imaging, a real-time imaging technology used in the production of heart stents. Focus on two products: the high-frequency OCT mobile imaging system and the Vis-Rx prime catheter. This combination can be called a "trump card".

Gentuity's signature feature is OCT technology, optical coherence tomography, which is like a "high-definition gastroscopy" for blood vessels. With AI algorithms, it can be deployed in just 5 minutes, significantly reducing the duration of the operation. The diameter of their catheter is only 1.8 francs (about 0.6mm), and it can be inserted into the thinnest blood vessels. In combination with GE's imaging system, it enables doctors to observe the details of 0.1mm plaques during the operation.

Why do hospitals all love to buy CT machines from GE?

The medical device friends have talked with several directors of the equipment department and summarized three reasons:

• Nowadays, the construction of chest pain centers requires that they must be equipped with high-end CT scanners.

• The construction of national regional medical centers drives equipment upgrades  Especially when conducting heart examinations, wide-body detectors do save time.

• For instance, a traditional CT scan for coronary heart disease requires a patient to hold their breath for 20 seconds, while a GE machine might only need 5 seconds - which is particularly friendly to the elderly.
  

At present, the ultra-high-end CT market is still dominated by "GPS" (GE, Philips, Siemens). It should be noted that the payback period for a CT scan is approximately 3 to 5 years, and at least 30 patients need to be treated every day. Interestingly, county-level hospitals are now also purchasing equipment worth 20 million yuan, which indicates that there is still a long way to go for domestic substitution.

Finally, let's talk about a trend: Nowadays, when purchasing equipment, more and more emphasis is placed on "overall solutions". It's not just about buying the machine; it also requires the accompanying AI software and remote diagnosis services. This collaboration between GE and Gentuity is a typical example of a "hardware + software" approach.

What do colleagues think of this phenomenon? Welcome to share in the comment section what new equipment your hospital has recently purchased? How was the user experience?

Note: The above content is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice. The relevant interpretations of official policies in this article only represent the views of this platform. The content is subject to official documents.

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