GE Healthcare Launches World’s First Dedicated Cardiovascular CT System

GE Healthcare introduced CardioGraphe, the world’s first dedicated cardiovascular computed tomography (CT) system, at the 66th annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology (ACC). CardioGraphe is the result of a strategic partnership between GE Healthcare and Arineta LTD. The two companies established a relationship in 2010 with the intent to bring a dedicated cardiovascular CT system to market. GE Healthcare is the exclusive worldwide distributor of CardioGraphe, including primary responsibility for service, parts distribution and applications support. 
 
Cardiovascular disease continues to be a leading cause of death around the world. Often, patients in most urgent need of cardiac imaging have high or unstable heart rates, which can be challenging to scan using a traditional CT system. The availability of a full coverage CT system that provides the robust clinical detail needed to diagnose and assess these patients can be limited due to their physical location, their full schedule for multi-anatomy scans, or due to the cost of a general purpose CT system. CardioGraphe is the first CT designed specifically for high performance cardiovascular imaging that is affordable and accessible.
 
“Cardiovascular disease is a huge concern, and our goal is to improve access to high quality imaging solutions by providing cost effective tools that help physicians confidently and efficiently diagnose and treat these patients.” said Scott Schubert, GM Global Premium CT, GE Healthcare.
 
CardioGraphe is breakthrough technology that makes non-invasive cardiovascular imaging more affordable in a traditional hospital setting and accessible for the first time in a chest pain emergency department (ED), physician office, or in a point-of-care setting for treatment planning of vascular interventions. Because of its innovative Stereo CT design with focused field of view, the system is compact, easy to use, and dose efficient.
 
CardioGraphe creates a 3D image of the coronaries, valves, chambers and myocardium in one heartbeat and can also perform CT angiography studies beyond the heart, including the aorta and carotids. The system’s rotation speed of 0.24 seconds, currently the fastest available¹, combined with GE’s SnapShot Freeze intelligent motion correction software, freezes coronary artery motion for patients with high or unstable heart rates. The speed of this new technology provides physicians with information about heart function and provides the anatomic detail required to plan procedures such as Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR). 
 
“We have independently evaluated cases from the CT scanner for image quality and interpretability, as part of the 510(k) reader study. Using a 5-point Likert scale, 100 percent of cases were interpretable, with 92.7 percent rated excellent and 7.3 percent rated good,” according to Matthew Budoff, MD, FACC, Professor, UCLA School of Medicine.
 
CardioGraphe was filed and 510(k) cleared by the FDA and is CE marked². The system is not available for sale in all regions.
 
References
¹Comparing CardioGraphe to other CT scanners reported in ITN comparison charts (Nov/Dec 2016).
²CE marked as Spotlight. Registered name change in progress.