Toronto, ONT -- GE Healthcare's (NYSE: GE) Radiology and Vascular Ultrasound group and the Medipattern Corporation (TSX-V: MKI.V) have announced a five-year collaborative sales and development agreement for ultrasound-based Computer-Aided Detection (CAD). The agreement is structured in two parts, enabling GE Healthcare to resell the current B-CAD™ product line, while collaboratively developing and customizing CAD for GE's future solutions.

Under the agreement, GE Healthcare will work with Medipattern to develop Computer-Aided Detection for existing GE ultrasound platforms as well as future ultrasound imaging solutions. Medipattern will create an advanced version of its breast ultrasound CAD exclusively for GE Healthcare for use with its ultrasound solutions, which will be made available to the market through GE's well-established global sales channels.

"GE Healthcare is facilitating the next era in medical imaging by developing advanced tools for volume ultrasound imaging. Both the quality and number of images are increasing and moving from 2-D to a more advanced 3-D imaging that will enable the physician to see even greater detail capable of revealing disease at an earlier stage. At the same time, the patient population is growing and the number of active radiologists is decreasing. These trends place stress upon those in the medical imaging field worldwide. CAD plays a key role through its ability to extract the salient features of medical images, organize information, and document all of the case detail quickly and efficiently," said Brian McEathron, GE Healthcare General Manager for Radiology and Vascular Ultrasound.
"B-CAD standardizes the reading and reporting method, increases radiologists' confidence in their diagnostic decisions, and reduces the amount of time required to interpret that information," McEathron said. "GE Healthcare chose Medipattern as its partner in breast ultrasound CAD for its technical expertise, its consistently innovative approach, and its dedication to both partners and patients. Our goal is to help radiologists efficiently and accurately diagnose disease at the earliest onset, when it is much more treatable. This will improve the outlook for every patient."

"I have been using B-CAD with my GE LOGIQ 9® Ultrasound Unit and found that I can consistently interpret cases in less than a minute -- much more quickly than our previous process, but with the same accuracy and detail," said Thomas Stavros, M.D. of the Sally Jobe Breast Center, Denver, Colorado. "B-CAD facilitates the reading of breast ultrasound in a highly efficient workflow, as it is well organized and provides structured reporting."

"Medipattern is pleased to partner with GE Healthcare to further advance breast imaging diagnosis," said Jeff Collins, CEO of Medipattern. "Working with GE will enable Medipattern to expand its reach for delivering B-CAD to the global community and provides an excellent partner for developing other indications for ultrasound. We look forward to working with the team at GE to refine and expand our products and services."

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