GE Seeks to Lower Cost of Remote Prenatal Ultrasound Technology

In his September 2009 address to an audience at New York’s 92 Street Y, Dr. Muhammad Yunus discussed progress in remote health care that uses modern technology to place a typically urban doctor on one end of a high-tech, portable ultrasound system while a trained village midwife or local nurse operates the transducer, or device placed on the abdomen of an expectant mom, on the other end.

The NIH just awarded a $1.2 million award to GE researchers, examing ways to lower current costs.

Quoting from GE’s press release: The development of a low-cost transducer would greatly support GE`s healthymagination vision by expanding ultrasound use beyond the hospital and into underserved communities worldwide. Healthymagination represents GE`s commitment to drive new technologies and products that reduce costs, improve quality and increase access to healthcare. Expanding ultrasound use to underserved communities could help improve the detection and diagnosis of life-threatening maternal conditions such as ectopic pregnancy, placental previa, and fetal malposition. Ultrasound is also uniquely capable of accurately prognosing preeclampsia - a dangerous form of hypertension that arises inpregnancy. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 1,400 women die each day from maternal causes and for every woman who dies, twenty more suffer injuries, infection, and disability in pregnancy and childbirth.

For anyone interested in the technology developments of prenatal care in remote locations, this GE PR release is detailed and highly informative. Anne