TOKYO, February 6, 2006 - GE Healthcare has reached the 600th global installation of LightSpeed VCT, the world's first volume computed tomography (CT) system. After announcing the 500th global installation of the next-generation CT system recently in November 2005, GE Healthcare has reached another significant milestone in record time, making the LightSpeed VCT the fastest-selling product in the history of GE Healthcare.

The 600th global shipment of VCT will be received by Akita University, one of the largest universities in the Tohoku region in Japan. The University will be showcasing the diagnostic capabilities of GE Healthcare's breakthrough VCT technology, installing both the LightSpeed VCT and LightSpeed VCT Select.

Cardiac CT has been recognized as one of the biggest breakthroughs in healthcare today, and GE's LightSpeed VCT has garnered the largest share of accolades, including:
* The Wall Street Journal's 2005 Technology Innovation award, as a runner up in the Medical Device category, honoring the LightSpeed VCT for imaging the heart in five beats or less.

* The 2005 Gold Connecticut Quality Improvement Award (CQIA) for the LightSpeed VCT and GE's "creative ingenuity and entrepreneurial cutting edge technology."

* Popular Science Magazine's "Best of What's New in Technology for 2004," honoring the LightSpeed VCT's advancements in both high resolution and speed.

LightSpeed VCT Clinical Applications

* 5-Beat Cardiac(tm) - a comprehensive view of the heart and coronary arteries with submillimeter resolution in five seconds. This coverage helps reduce beat-to-beat variability, resulting in more robust, repeatable procedures, as well as greater vessel visualization and shorter breath holds for sick patients.

* Triple RuleOut(tm) - the ability to help clinicians rule out (or in) the three most life-threatening critical conditions in chest pain in one single scan - aortic dissection, pulmonary embolism and coronary artery disease.

* Stroke WorkUp(tm) - the ability to dynamically acquire both anatomy and perfusion/blood flow to the brain in a single scan.

In Japan today, there are 34 GE Healthcare VCT systems delivered to medical sites. GEYMS will accelerate the sales of LightSpeed VCT in Japan by leveraging GE Healthcare's advanced technologies and this record 600th global VCT installation...

"The delivery of the 600th LightSpeed VCT to Akita University marks an important milestone as luminary institutions continue to choose the LightSpeed VCT for its resolution, speed, power, and coverage," said Brian Duchinsky, general manager of GE Healthcare's Global CT Business. "This breakthrough product is testament to GE's commitment to develop and deliver innovative, lifesaving technologies that benefit both doctors and patients. With 600 installations, physicians around the world are endorsing and validating the clinical prowess of the LightSpeed VCT."

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