GE Healthcare announced that its PET/CT business continued to maintain its industry leadership position in 2006, by increasing market share by over 5 percent to exceed 50 percent of the global market. The growth is especially impressive in an era of reduced capital equipment purchases for diagnostic imaging modalities that slowed the PET market growth.

"When the first Discovery PET/CT was introduced six years ago, the imaging industry changed dramatically," said Hadi Moufarrej, Global general manager of Molecular Imaging, GE Healthcare. "The fused information - to see the anatomy laid over the metabolic activity - is what makes PET/CT so powerful for oncology."

GE's Discovery PET/CT combines Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Computed Tomography (CT) in a single, mildly invasive exam to provide physicians with both metabolic and anatomic information to assist in the detection, diagnosis, treatment planning and monitoring of cancer.
Discovery PET/CT provides precise lesion location and metabolic activity of growing cells so doctors can detect diseases early and make informed decisions regarding patient management, according to Moufarrej. In 2006, Discovery PET/CT systems proved their technology leadership and become the preferred PET/CT technology in Oncology and Cardiology.

The company also announced that it will continue to pursue sourcing agreements with its BGO crystal suppliers for its PET and PET/CT systems, the Discovery LS, Discovery ST and Discovery STE. PET/CT helps physicians make more accurate diagnoses because PET images body function on the cellular level while CT captures the body's anatomical structure to determine where disease is located.

Bismuth germinate (BGO) crystals have been used in PET imaging for over 25 years and support both 2D and 3D techniques, depending on the total count rate. Despite the industry slowdown resulting from 2006 Deficit Reduction Act (DRA), GE is working with BGO crystal suppliers to increase production to meet current and future market demand, since BGO crystal-based systems comprise over 50 percent of the PET systems being shipped today.

"GE's product success and the continued global demand for our PET/CT systems with BGO clearly illustrates the clinical efficacy and utility of this crystal technology to help clinicians diagnose, manage and treat an individual's medical condition," said Moufarrej. "This market demand translates to a continued commitment to BGO and GE will provide the imaging market with the proven technologies that it demands by working more closely with crystal suppliers to increase production."

GE is seeking continued long-term relationships with two BGO suppliers. In the past, GE and the suppliers have worked closely together, resulting in both becoming production-qualified GEHC suppliers.

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