Simplifying Needle Guided Procedures: Programmable Button Probe Headlines the new LOGIQ e from GE Healthcare

Simple, fast, and precise portable ultrasound to improve point of care imaging capabilities

Wauwatosa, WI, September 2, 2014 – GE Healthcare announced today commercial availability in the U.S. for its new LOGIQ™ e ultrasound system. Acute interventions, chronic patient management and needle guidance are daily challenges physicians’ asked GE Healthcare to help solve. This new system features a programmable probe with buttons on it that allow for simple, fast and precise use of portable ultrasound at the point of care. The new transducer combined with enhanced imaging capabilities allows for premium imaging capabilities in a compact format for a wide variety of patients with a wide variety of problems in a wide variety of settings.

GE Healthcare’s new LOGIQ e was re-engineered to provide premium imaging at the fingertips of healthcare providers along with innovative tools to help simplify interventions with precise needle guidance.

“The fundamentals required by our customers are to see clearly; see quickly; and guide precisely. These were the values users requested that drove the creation of the new LOGIQ e,” said Paul Mullen, General Manager of Point of Care Ultrasound for GE Healthcare. “We wanted to provide them with simple and fast solutions while improving upon the precision that our customers have been accustomed to with prior versions of the LOGIQ e system.

Needle placement procedures done by anesthesiologists, musculoskeletal physicians and other point of care physicians are increasingly being guided with ultrasound to ensure real-time precision and visualization. A big challenge, however, associated with using ultrasound for needle guidance placement is the need for an extra person or set of hands to operate the ultrasound system simultaneously while injecting. Now thanks to the new programmable linear transducer on the new LOGIQ e, physicians may be alleviated of this complexity and among other things provide immediate image refinement with one click.

In addition to the new buttons on the probe technology, GE is also highlighting the following features on the new LOGIQ e-:

• A new 1-5 MHz curved transducer for deep penetration of obese patients and an ultra-high frequency 10-22 MHz linear transducer for stunning superficial imaging.
• Follow-up Tool with Fusion application helps ensure technical consistency from exam-to-exam so that clinical conclusions are not clouded by inconsistent technique, especially useful in musculoskeletal or sports medicine patients.
• PDI Quantification software provides a numeric representation of the blood flow which may be associated with inflammation, tumors, and synovitis.
• Needle Recognition with gain allows separate control of the needle appearance as compared to the surrounding anatomy to help physicians see what they most want to see.
• New High-Res PDI tool for precise depiction of neovascularization to assist in early detection of inflammation in rheumatology.

“Over the past decade, we have manufactured and shipped over 20,000 LOGIQ es around the world,” Mullen said. “This new LOGIQ e being introduced today aims to build upon that legacy by incorporating new features and assets at the forefront of our customers’ minds as they adjust to the ever-evolving health needs of patients in emergency medicine, anesthesiology and musculoskeletal imaging settings.”

SOURCE: GE Healthcare