Business
GE HealthCare Awarded a $44 Million Grant to Develop Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Ultrasound Technology Aimed at Improving Outcomes in Low-and-Middle-Income Countries
Grant from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will facilitate development of AI-assisted applications and tools to enable healthcare professionals with less
About this update from Ge Healthcare Technologies Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\nGrant from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will facilitate development of AI-assisted applications and tools to enable healthcare professionals with less experience to perform quick and accurate ultrasound scans to help address maternal and fetal health and respiratory diseases\n\n\n\nAI-assisted ultrasound algorithms will be developed to run on multiple ultrasound devices to expand access to high quality care around the world with an emphasis on low-and-middle income countries (LMIC)\n\n\n\n CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nGE HealthCare (Nasdaq: GEHC) today announced it received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for more than $44 million to create user-friendly, artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted ultrasound imaging auto-assessment tools. These tools will seek to aid healthcare professionals—even those without specialized training or experience with ultrasound—with clinical decision information to support more effective obstetric and lung screening ultrasound scans across maternal and fetal care as well as pediatric lung health, with a goal of expanding access to low-and-middle income countries (LMIC) and across diverse sites of care.\n\n\nCaption Health, a leader in medical AI acquired by GE HealthCare in February 2023, will design this technology to run across a range of ultrasound devices and probes, including lower-cost handheld devices.\n\n\n“We are proud and excited to have received this grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to make ultrasound more accessible in low-and-middle income countries. Ultrasound is an essential tool for screening and diagnosis of various medical conditions, including the health of expectant mothers and managing respiratory diseases,” said Roland Rott, President and CEO, Ultrasound, GE HealthCare. “However, a key limitation is the guidance of lesser-skilled users to effectively apply affordable point-of-care ultrasound in their care environment. This grant will help bring Caption Health’s leading AI technology customized to more users, and therefore contribute to increased access to higher-quality medical care.”\n\n\nMaternal and child mortality is a critical healthcare issue around the world. In 2020, almost 800 women died every day from preventable causes linked to pregnancy and childbirth, with approximately 95 percent of all maternal deaths occurring in LMIC.1 In 201...