GE HealthCare announced its Venue Family point-of-care ultrasound systems will now feature Caption Guidance, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven technology that provides real-time guidance to users for capturing diagnostic-quality cardiac images. The Venue Family is the first among GE HealthCare ultrasound products to incorporate this scan guidance technology following the company’s acquisition of Caption Health earlier this year. Caption Guidance is an optional add-on that offers new capabilities at the point of care, supporting clinicians in a wide range of clinical settings and practices such as emergency departments, critical care wards, and anesthesiology.
Cardiac ultrasound examinations, which enable examination of the structure of the heart using sound waves, are the primary tool used to help identify heart failure, the most common diagnosis in the U.S. for hospitalized patients over the age of 65. Heart failure contributes to millions of deaths globally every year. The AI-driven Caption Guidance technology gives clinicians step-by-step instructions to confidently acquire ultrasound images for cardiac assessments. This can help providers, even those who are not experts in ultrasound, by addressing training and skill barriers to ultrasound usage, thereby expanding ultrasound access. This can potentially enable early detection of signs of heart disease in at-risk patients, which may ultimately help improve clinical outcomes with early intervention to slow disease progression and potentially prevent hospitalizations.
“Venue Family ultrasound systems support clinical decision-making at the point of care, including the emergency department, offering simple, fast and precise solutions. With the integration of Caption Guidance AI-driven software, these devices can enhance cardiac care and reduce the burden on sonographers and radiology departments by giving more clinicians the ability to perform scans and triage patients,” said Dietmar Seifriedsberger, Global General Manager, Point of Care and Handheld Ultrasound at GE HealthCare. “The AI software is expected to increase the number of clinicians who can successfully and confidently conduct cardiac ultrasound scans, which is especially useful in emergency or critical care settings where demand is high and accuracy is essential.”
Caption Guidance on the Venue Family point-of-care ultrasound systems is available in the United States. GE HealthCare plans to integrate this innovative AI technology into other ultrasound systems, including handheld systems, helping to further expand access to diagnostic care as well as the use of ultrasound in a variety of care settings.
“We recognize the potential of Caption Health AI in revolutionizing ultrasound access and have worked quickly to deliver on integrating this promising technology to improve patient care,” said Karley Yoder, Chief Digital Officer, Ultrasound at GE HealthCare. “Within a few months of the Caption Health acquisition, we have successfully launched Caption Guidance as a powerful new guidance tool on our Venue Family ultrasound systems, enabling efficient and confident use of ultrasound at the point of care and strengthening our integrated products and solutions. We remain committed to making an impact with this technology and plan to expand its use to maternal, fetal, and pulmonary diseases.”
Caption Guidance is part of the Verisound suite of technologies formerly known as Ultrasound Digital Solutions. The new Verisound brand brings together GE HealthCare’s existing ultrasound AI and digital workflow solutions as part of a unified platform designed to help clinicians work smarter and more efficiently.
GE HealthCare will debut the Venue Family ultrasound systems featuring Caption Guidance, and the Verisound brand, at the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Scientific Assembly taking place October 9-12 in Philadelphia. GE HealthCare will also showcase the new Vscan Air SL, a handheld, wireless ultrasound system designed for rapid cardiac and vascular assessments at the point of care.
Caption Guidance and the Verisound brand will also be featured at the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Annual Meeting taking place October 13-17 in San Francisco.
SOURCE: BusinessWire
