GE Healthcare has obtained approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its new software enhancement for the acclaimed LOGIQ E9 ultrasound system, Shear Wave elastography.
The new expert tool instantaneously generates a precise and quantifiable measure of tissue stiffness, offering clinicians with accurate and consistent data that can be used to identify underlying disease.
GE Healthcare general imaging ultrasound general manager Brian McEathron said: "Giving physicians the ability to non-invasively measure and quantify tissue stiffness in a consistent way can help boost their productivity and clinical confidence and can be a valuable tool in the diagnosis and management of disease.
"This expert tool for our LOGIQ E9 is among a series of upgrades we made by listening to users and designing cost effective upgrades to help address everyday imaging challenges."
According to GE, stiff tissue found during routine physical exams can be an early indication of disease and a gradual change in liver tissue stiffness can indicate the progression of liver fibrosis.
Shear Wave helps in providing a quantifiable measure of tissue stiffness, which will allow clinicians to assess disease in the liver, breast and other organs immediately.
By using acoustic energy from the ultrasound transducer, Shear Wave elastography will automatically and instantaneously produce a numeric measure of stiffness on an absolute scale.
With a low speed corresponding to softer tissue and a high speed corresponding to stiffer tissue, the Shear Wave’s technology instantly and continuously displays the results on a 2D real-time and color-coded ultrasound image.
Image: Shear Wave elastography can help boost clinicians efficiency and confidence with quantifiable data. Photo: courtesy of General electric.