TORONTO, CANADA, JUNE 2, 2006 - According to two recent studies, comparing bone densitometers, GE Healthcare's Lunar Prodigy has lower precision error when measuring changes in bone mineral density (BMD). The GE Lunar Prodigy uses breakthrough direct-digital technology that has been proven to have better precision for BMD testing in the detection of osteoporosis, a disease characterized by low bone mass and increased risk of fracture. The two studies were be presented at the International Osteoporosis Foundation World Congress on Osteoporosis in Toronto, Canada June 2-6.

The ability to monitor a patient's BMD depends on measurement precision error, which varies with the bone density system and the operator's experience. Lower precision error increases a clinician's diagnostic confidence and allows clinicians to measure a smaller change in BMD as biological rather than related to system variability.

In the first study, conducted by the Foundation for Osteoporosis Research and Education in Oakland, CA, BMD was measured with the Lunar Prodigy and another system in 20 women aged 59 to 65 years. The authors found that precision at the femur, a critical fracture site, was significantly better with the Prodigy. In the second study, conducted at the University of La Sapienza, Italy, a total of 31 women aged 54 to 77 years were measured. This study concluded that BMD precision error with the Lunar Prodigy was significantly lower than the other system at both the femur and spine.


Bone densitometry with low precision error allow clinicians to better assess bone mineral density and ultimately fracture risk. As a result, clinicians can diagnose low bone mineral density and monitor a patient's progress and response to therapy earlier in the treatment process.

"GE's Lunar line of bone density systems increase the opportunity of an improved diagnosis for our patients," said Jennie Hanson, president of Lunar. "In many cases, osteoporosis can be successfully treated if doctors can detect and intervene early. And for patients who've been diagnosed with osteoporosis, the trick is motivating them to stay on their treatment plans. Osteoporosis treatment takes time, and precise, confident feedback on progress can give patients incentive to stay the course."

ABOUT GE HEALTHCARE
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, performance improvement, drug discovery, and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies is helping clinicians around the world re-imagine new ways to predict, diagnose, inform and treat disease, so their patients can live their lives to the fullest. GE Healthcare's broad range of products and services enable healthcare providers to better diagnose and treat cancer, heart disease,
neurological diseases, and other conditions earlier. Our vision for the future is to enable a new "early health" model of care focused on earlier diagnosis, pre-symptomatic disease detection and disease prevention. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $15 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 43,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at
www.gehealthcare.com .

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