Waukesha, WI, MAY 15, 2006 - GE is introducing four new clinically specialized ultrasound systems to address healthcare providers' growing demand for sophisticated, real-time imaging at the point of care. GE's Compact Series is a new and revolutionary line of ultrasound products that places the power and imaging capabilities of a high-performance, 400-pound system into a laptop-size design.

According to Omar Ishrak, president and CEO of GE Healthcare's Clinical Systems division, miniaturization was the first step in bringing basic ultrasound to the point-of-care. "Until now, the broad adoption of compact ultrasound has been
hindered by image quality limitations and the industry's 'one size fits all' approach to compact system design," said Ishrak. "By working with physicians from a wide-range of medical specialties, we've learned that image quality, portability and clinical specialization are all essential to expanding ultrasound's role in healthcare. We've developed our new Compact Series to address these needs and bring the benefits of ultrasound to virtually all clinicians and patients - creating a pathway for ultrasound to become as ubiquitous in patient care as the stethoscope is today."


GE has set a new threshold for compact ultrasound imaging performance, according to physicians who have previewed the new systems. The Compact Series builds upon GE's successful introduction of Vivid i in 2005, a high-performance cardiovascular ultrasound system in a compact design. Blending image quality and portability with clinical applications, reporting tools and a user interface designed specifically for cardiac imaging, Vivid i has been rapidly adopted by the medical community, and today is transforming the way heart disease is detected, diagnosed and managed at more than 1,000 sites around the world.

GE's Compact Series is now expanded to include the new Voluson i and LOGIQ i systems - each "i" product is designed to bring specialized, console-quality imaging performance and portability to traditional applications. Voluson i is designed for Obstetrics & Gynecology applications, while the LOGIQ i will serve the general imaging needs of Radiology. GE's "e" products focus on expanding ultrasound's reach to new clinical areas. The new LOGIQ e was uniquely designed with the speed requirements and imaging applications to support real-time clinical decisions in Emergency and Surgical settings. GE's new Vivid e provides a dedicated cardiac ultrasound imaging solution for the Physician Office in a practical, easy to use design.

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