GE Healthcare collaborates with CorTechs Labs on MRI scans

GE Healthcare ($GE) and MRI software provider CorTechs Labs signed a joint-marketing agreement on a MRI scanning solution used in conjunction with CorTech's NeuroQuant program.

510(k)-cleared NeuroQuant detects and quantifies human brain atrophy in standard MRI images by automatically measuring the volumes of 22 different brain structures, such as the hippocampus, and comparing them to normal volumes based on age, gender and cranial volume, according to CorTechs.

"Accurate measurement of volumes of different parts of the brain may be a useful aid in the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury," said Chris Airries, chief technology officer of CorTechs Labs, in a statement. "Volume changes in certain brain structures have been linked in the literature to early indications of such conditions where more traditional diagnoses lack detection sensitivity."

NeruoQuant has been used to scan and analyze 40,000 MRI brains scans around the world, according to CorTechs. In March the company announced Series B financing lead by Genting Berhad, the holding company of Malaysian conglomerate Genting Group.

GE says it plans on investing more than $500 million into research on neurological disorders between 2010 and 2020.

The company's healthcare unit reported reported profits of $570 million on revenues of $4.2 billion in the first quarter of 2014, representing year-over-year decreases of 4% and 2%, respectively.

Earlier this year GE competitor Siemens signed an agreement with Tennessee's MRI Interventions to jointly develop software enabling catheter-based procedures to be performed using real-time MRI imaging as opposed to fluoroscopy. The new agreement between GE and CoreTechs is further proof that software is becoming an increasingly important driver and differentiator in the medical imaging arena.

- read the release

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