GE
Global Research, the central technology development arm for GE Healthcare and
all of GE’s businesses, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with
Singapore’s Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).
This agreement will focus on advancing current
medical imaging technologies and diagnostics to enable more accurate, earlier
and faster clinical diagnoses of cancer and other diseases. The partnership
between A*STAR and GE Global Research brings together two world-class research
institutions, integrating their deep domain expertise in biomedical, science,
and engineering capabilities to support this effort.
This MOU expands upon a productive
collaboration between GE and A*STAR’s Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (SBIC)
using Hyperpolarized Carbon-13 technology. Early results exploring sub second
bio-chemical imaging in Oncology applications helped pave the way for a broader
scientific collaboration on projects in medical diagnostics and medical
imaging. The goal is to improve diagnosis and tissue characterization in
diseases that are prevalent in the Asian population, such as liver, lung, and
gastric cancers.
Michael Idelchik, Vice President of Advanced
Technology Programs at GE Global Research, said, “To more effectively combat
cancer and other deadly diseases, more advanced diagnostic tools will be needed
to help doctors become more prescriptive in their diagnoses and treatment
regimens. Combining A*STAR’s world-class biomedical and clinical expertise with
GE’s strengths in diagnostic and molecular imaging, we have an exciting
opportunity to take medical diagnosis to this next level. Specifically, A*STAR
will help us address cancers and other diseases more common in Asia and where
pathology and outcomes are different as compared to the rest of the world.”
Professor Low Teck Seng, Managing Director of
A*STAR, said, “This win-win public-private partnership between A*STAR and GE
comes at an opportune time with the increasing research interest in diseases
affecting the Asian population. I am confident that A*STAR’s cross-disciplinary
capabilities in both the biomedical, and physical sciences & engineering
research will complement GE’s expertise in diagnostic and molecular imaging to
meet today’s complex healthcare challenges and enhance lives.”
As part of the MOU, A*STAR and GE Global
Research will collaborate to enhance medical imaging technologies in imaging
modalities, ranging from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission
tomography (PET) to computed tomography (CT). In a Frost & Sullivan global
market analysis report, the medical imaging sector was valued at about US$25
billion as of 2008, with MRI and CT scanners accounting for a combined 40% of
the total global device medical imaging market . In one project, scientists
from A*STAR’s Institute of Microelectronics (IME) and GE scientists will explore
the development of new imaging technologies to improve the speed and accuracy
of clinical cancer diagnosis. Leveraging IME’s network and partnerships with
the microelectronics industry, this project could result in the development of
a new local industry for Singapore in the healthcare technologies area.
In another project, A*STAR’s Singapore
Bioimaging Consortium (SBIC) and GE plan to develop novel imaging markers for
hepatic cellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of liver cancer in Asia.
This project will integrate biomedical imaging and pre-clinical model
development expertise from SBIC with GE’s molecular diagnostics technology to
develop innovative, proprietary platforms to help advance the unique
characterization of HCC in each patient. In this manner, the goal is that a
specific type of cancer would be identified and the therapy tailored to each
patient. This project encompasses a range of medical diagnostic technologies
from imaging to molecular pathology biomarkers appropriate to HCC, relevant to
the Asian population. Building on a close partnership with local hospitals,
success in this project may lead to accelerated and accurate cancer diagnosis
that enables more prescriptive and effective cancer treatments for patients.
This will support A*STAR’s efforts to develop Singapore as a Center for
Oncology and Molecular Pathology.
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