GE HealthCare, UC San Diego Partner to Improve Female Pelvic Disease Imaging

GE HealthCare and the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine are teaming up to advance pelvic health care for women.

Specifically, the two entities will evaluate advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocols and techniques for female-specific pelvic diseases and conditions, and develop comprehensive educational materials for clinicians. This project aims to improve women’s pelvic health and help clinicians make more informed decisions, diagnose diseases and conditions faster, and increase access to quality pelvic care for women.

“Diseases and conditions impacting female patients bellow the belly button are often misdiagnosed, misunderstood, and understudied in our industry,” stated Erin Angel, Ph.D., GE HealthCare Global Vice President, Research and Scientific Affairs. “We are optimistic that the results of the project could support more standard adoption of advanced imaging techniques and ultimately empower clinicians to make more informed decisions. We believe this project can help bridge an important gap in women’s healthcare and increase access of innovative solutions to women around the world.”
 
The Center for Translational Imaging and Precision Medicine (CTIPM) at UC-San Diego’s School of Medicine will be the collaborating site to conduct the project. Leading the project is Rebecca Rakow-Penner, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Radiology and Bioengineering at UC San Diego and deputy director for CTIPM.
 
The project encompasses a wide spectrum of female pelvic diseases, including better visualization of endometriosis and ovarian cancer using MRI techniques in both clinical and academic research settings.
 
Pelvic diseases and conditions in female patients are often understudied, misdiagnosed, and ineffectively treated, which can be debilitating for women and cause substantial economic burden for healthcare systems, hospitals and patients. In the United States, pelvic pain accounts for an estimated 20% of all outpatient appointments in secondary care for female patients and an estimated $882 million in outpatient management expenses.¹
 
“We aim to democratize advanced imaging for women and increase access to high quality care in the San Diego community and beyond,” Rakow-Penner stated. “Women’s care requires a personalized approach and we hope to advance care solutions for women by improving the diagnosis and management of female pelvic conditions, both benign and malignant. The results of the collaboration will have the potential to help improve the patient experience and equip clinicians with a toolset to deliver a higher level of care that every woman deserves access to.”
 
The project will beget training and educational materials alongside the protocols, all of which could be available as resources for GE HealthCare MRI users worldwide. Increasing access to advanced imaging techniques for clinicians can help drive effective diagnosis and management of pelvic diseases and conditions for female patients. 
 
GE HealthCare is a global medical technology, pharmaceutical diagnostics, and digital solutions innovator that provides integrated solutions, services, and data analytics. Serving patients and providers for more than 125 years, GE HealthCare’s Imaging, Ultrasound and Image Guided Therapy, Patient Care Solutions, and Pharmaceutical Diagnostics businesses help improve patient care from diagnosis, to therapy, to monitoring. The $19.6 billion company employs approximately 51,000 workers.

Reference
¹ Latthe P, Latthe M, Say L, Gülmezoglu M, Khan KS. WHO systematic review of prevalence of chronic pelvic pain: a neglected reproductive health morbidity. BMC Public Health. 2006 Jul 6;6:177. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-6-177. PMID: 16824213; PMCID: PMC1550236.
Howard FM. The role of laparoscopy in chronic pelvic pain: promise and pitfalls. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 1993;48:357–387.
Mathias SD, Kuppermann M, Liberman RF, Lipschutz RC, Steege JF. Chronic pelvic pain: prevalence, health-related quality of life, and economic correlates. Obstet Gynecol. 1996;87:321–327. doi: 10.1016/0029-7844(95)00458-0.