Through the acquisition, GE HealthCare will gain ownership of CT-Navigation, a solution that offers stereotactic needle guidance to enable intuitive pre-planning and continuous control in a wide range of minimally invasive percutaneous procedures
GE HealthCare has announced an agreement to acquire IMACTIS. (Credit: GE HealthCare)
GE HealthCare has agreed to acquire French computed tomography (CT) interventional guidance firm IMACTIS for an undisclosed price.
IMACTIS was established by Stephane Lavallee and Lionel Carrat in 2009, who also developed CT-Navigation, an ergonomic universal solution that offers stereotactic needle guidance.
CT-Navigation is said to enable intuitive pre-planning and continuous control in a wide range of minimally invasive percutaneous procedures, from diagnosis to treatment. It is claimed to have already been used in over 14,000 interventions, and is compatible with a variety of equipment.
The acquisition is anticipated to offer the IMACTIS CT-Navigation system a major future expansion possibility using GE HealthCare’s extensive installed base and global reach.
GE HealthCare imaging president and CEO Jan Makela said: “The IMACTIS CT-Navigation system is designed to improve workflow for interventional radiologists and hospitals by increasing procedural accuracy, while helping to reduce procedure time and radiation dose for patients and physicians.
“It is an innovative navigation solution for image-guided percutaneous procedures that aims for better patient outcomes, by reducing variability for simple and complex procedures and improving reproducibility.”
GE HealthCare said that the deal gives it access to the expanding market of CT interventional guidance in the global interventional radiology market. The company intends to use it to advance its image-guided therapy (IGT) business with a focus on CT.
The IMACTIS CT-Navigation, which comprises an integrated workstation, guidance software, and a disposable procedure kit, has US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorisation for use in the US. It has been cleared under the Medical Devices Regulation (MDR) of the European Union.
IMACTIS president and CEO Pierre Olivier said: “Our solution, which is already deployed in leading healthcare systems in Europe and the U.S., is ready to scale and become a standard of care, thanks to GE HealthCare’s market access.
“Our product development team also sees significant opportunities to integrate our hardware and software into GE HealthCare solutions and make the workflow of the interventional radiologists and oncologists even simpler and faster.”
GE HealthCare said that the completion of the deal is subject to the usual closing requirements, including approval by the relevant French government agencies.