NEW YORK - GE Medical Systems, a unit of General Electric Company, today introduced a major advance in imaging technology that will help physicians effectively see and treat cancer faster than ever before. More than 6 million people around the world will die from cancer this year according to the World Health Organization. In the United States one in three people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.

The GE Discovery™ LS combines the fastest and most sophisticated computed tomography (CT) scanner, the GE LightSpeed™ Plus, with the most advanced positron emission tomography (PET) system, the GE Advance NXi.™ In light of recent news about cancer blocking drugs, this technological advancement is especially relevant. "The opportunity to aid doctors in diagnosing cancer more accurately and monitoring response to treatment earlier means that these new anti-cancer drugs may be utilized properly to have a greater chance of working," said Homer A. Macapinlac, M.D., director and section chief of Positron Emission Tomography at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

"The Discovery LS may be the most significant development in cancer detection and diagnosis in the last 20 years," according to Gustav von Schulthess, MD, PhD, professor and director of the division of Nuclear Medicine at University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland, and one of the first physicians to use the system. "Of the approximately 100 cancer patients scanned on the Discovery LS system at University Hospital, we have seen a 60 percent improvement in our ability to pinpoint the location of a tumor in the body. At the same time, our confidence in diagnosing the type of lesion has increased by 40 percent and the overall course of treatment has improved in nearly one out of three cases because of images generated on the Discovery LS system."

At a press conference in New York today GE President & Chairman-Elect Jeffrey R. Immelt said, "The development of the Discovery LS is another example of GE's commitment to early disease detection, which in turn leads to patient success stories. Discovery LS will help pave a new frontier in patient care as advanced medical imaging becomes the 'eyes' to help new drugs and other innovative treatments precisely target disease."

Images from Discovery LS can be compared to radar images shown during a television weather report. A PET scanner shows concentrations of cancer cells in a color spectrum just as weather radar shows varying concentrations of precipitation. The anatomical image generated by the simultaneous CT scan acts as the "map" showing doctors precisely where the cancer is located. The Discovery LS, like television radar, combines information from two systems, CT and PET, to pinpoint activity and location fused into one image.

For patients who are suspected of having cancer, the GE Discovery LS allows doctors to potentially learn more information about the extent and location of their disease. In cases where cancer is detected, the Discovery LS is an unprecedented tool that helps doctors target treatments and evaluate their effectiveness.

The GE Discovery LS can significantly reduce the time, expense and anxiety of multiple procedures. For example, physicians can obtain in a single, 30-minute Discovery LS exam the functional and anatomical information that they need for a patient, as compared to multiple procedures that may take place over the course of several days.

"In some way, cancer touches all of our lives," said Joseph M. Hogan, President and CEO of GE Medical Systems. "By listening to doctors and their patients, and by harnessing the speed and power of Six Sigma, GE is able to deliver a constant stream of life-saving medical innovations to people around the world."

Because the Discovery LS is a digital system, patients also benefit because their doctors will be able to electronically transfer images to specialists for review and expert opinions if needed.

Today the GE Discovery LS is installed for clinical use at University Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore, Md. and Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel. GE Medical Systems expects more than 500 Discovery units installed in the next three years.

"The Discovery LS and other fused imaging systems, which make up the Discovery product line, are the wave of the future for medical imaging," said R. Edward Coleman, M.D., director, Division of Nuclear Medicine and vice chair of the Department of Radiology at Duke University Medical Center. "In the years to come, fused imaging systems could become as popular as MR and CT scanners because of their ability to detect disease earlier and optimize treatment," said Coleman.

"The Discovery LS is also an example of how advanced technology can help doctors positively impact lives and help reduce healthcare costs. With the potential of earlier detection, new technology can help physicians prescribe better treatments, shorten hospital stays and reduce the number of exams for patients," added Coleman.

Since 1997, GE has invested more than $50 million in the development of the Discovery LS, plus another $80 million for the research and development of the LightSpeed CT and Advance NXi systems, upon which Discovery LS is based.

About GE Medical Systems
GE Medical Systems is a $8 billion global leader in medical information and technology. Its offerings include networking and productivity tools, healthcare information systems, patient monitoring systems, conventional and digital X-ray, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR), ultrasound and bone mineral densitometry, positron emission tomography (PET), and nuclear medicine. For more than 100 years, health care providers worldwide have relied on GE Medical Systems for high quality medical technology, services and productivity solutions. For more information, visit the GE Medical Systems Web site at gemedicalsystems.com.