CHICAGO
— November 26, 2012 — GE
Healthcare (NYSE: GE) today announced the commercial availability of its
SensorySuite for mammography at RSNA 2012. Designed to divert a woman’s
attention away from the discomfort, anxiety and intimidation associated with
mammography screenings, the SensorySuite helps improve patients experience by
providing a customized environment involving sight, smell and hearing during a
mammography examination.
“Compliance rates for yearly mammograms have long
been an issue. In fact, one in every
four women avoid mammograms because of worry and fear,
and less than 70% of women in the U.S. 40 and older have had a mammogram in the
last two years,”
said Prahlad Singh, General Manager, Women’s Healthcare, GE Healthcare. “With
the SensorySuite, GE aims to reduce perceived patient anxiety by giving them control
over their mammography experience. This improved experience is another
testimonial of GE’s commitment to fight breast cancer by encouraging early
detection."
SensorySuite for mammography was developed based on
several studies showing why women avoid yearly mammograms as well as insights
from the GE: For Women by Women project that invited designers,
patients, students and thought leaders to brainstorm new and inventive
approaches to mammography. The SensorySuite provides an all-encompassing
experience for women undergoing mammograms and also offers a differentiating
mammography experience for healthcare facilities, helping them to provide
higher levels of patient satisfaction.
The SensorySuite process begins in the patient’s
home, where an interactive online presentation posted in the facility’s web
site presents the SensorySuite experience to the woman. The patient next
explores the SensorySuite in the hospital waiting room via a tablet PC and
scented bookmark bracelets related to the seaside, garden or waterfall
environments. Finally, in the exam suite, the patient uses the in-room tablet
PC to choose the ambiance she wants to be transported to. The patient enjoys
the decorative wall panels depicting the available ambiances, a slide show of
the chosen ambiance on a flat-screen monitor, a soothing video displayed on a
second flat screen monitor emitting ambient sounds of the selected environment
and a light, calming fragrance throughout the room via a scent diffuser.
The SensorySuite is installed and maintained by GE
field engineers, and accompanying consumables can be purchased through GE sales
representatives. The SensorySuite can be installed in a customer’s current
facility equipped with GE systems or can be purchased with new GE mammography
equipment.
“Healthcare is very personal. This is certainly true in Mammography.
SensorySuite is a great example of the intersection of technology and the human
side of healthcare. We are confident that women around the world who experience
SensorySuite will see that GE not only strives to develop great technology, but
that we also aim to develop solutions that approach every element of the care
continuum with empathy, feeling and respect. Our hope is that through this
solution we are taking some of the anxiety out of a traditional mammogram, and
enabling women everywhere to take more control of their exam process,” said
Hooman Hakami, president and CEO, Detection & Guidance Solutions (DGS), GE
Healthcare.
*
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:
·
Digital press kit: newsroom.gehealthcare.com/press-kits/ge-healthcare-at-rsna-2012
·
Twitter: @GEHealthcare and hashtag #GEWorks
·
YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/gehealthcare
·
Flickr: www.flickr.com/people/gehealthcare
·
Instagram: instagram.com/generalelectric
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distinct groups of non-attenders in an organized mammography screening program,
Arja R Aro, Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 70: 145-153, 2001
According
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Notes to Editors
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.
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