Excerpts from Press Release - June 21, 2001
GE Medical Systems Unveils Breakthrough Technology to Aid Doctors in Early Detection and Diagnosis of Cancer

NEW YORK - GE Medical Systems, a unit of the 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.

The GE Discovery LS combines the fastest and most sophisticated Computed Tomography (CT) scanner, the GE LightSpeedPlus, with the most advanced Positron Emission Tomography (PET) system, the GE Advance NXi.In light of the recent news about cancer blocking drugs, this technological advancement is especially relevant. This helps 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.

Major Features and Benefits:

• Optimal PET detector
• Connectivity to transfer images anywhere
• CT detector design engineered for speed and image quality
• A table designed with the operator and patient in mind
• Operator ease-of-use
• A workstation combining the best of both modalities

Discovery LS revolutionizes cancer care every step of the way by providing detailed information for diagnosis, treatment options and patient follow-up. It delivers vital data to locate the primary tumor site, grade the degree of malignancy, determine tumor staging, develop precise radiation treatment plans and monitor treatment success.

Case Study:

A 63-year old female patient with history of rectal carcinoma treated by resection. In the follow-up, hepatic and pulmonary metastases were detected and resected.
PET demonstrates large intra-pulmonary lesion in the left lower lobe, further in the mediastinum, right lateral thoracic wall, supraclavicular region on the right and the retroperitoneum.
PET-CT fusion demonstrates localization of the lesions within the sternum and especially intrapulmonary. Further demonstration of an enlarged lymph node in the right auxillary region.

Millennium VG

An exclusive GE breakthrough, the Millennium VG Dual Head Gamma Camera combines PET and SPECT with CT to create a new category in diagnostic imaging and is now available in three configurations, for your specific clinical needs.

The Millennium VG basic platform, the Millennium VG Hawkeye and Discovery VH. The basic platform can be upgraded to the desired clinical need as per the "GE Continuum"

The Millennium VG Slip-Ring Gantry has major benefits to the whole range of clinical applications of Nuclear Medicine. It optimizes continuous tomographic dynamic scans, minimizes patient motion artifacts in tomographic exams, or permits high-speed SPECT orbiting, increasing throughput at the same time that it optimizes image quality.

Hawkeye Functional Anatomical Imaging is adding CT to the VG's superb nuclear imaging capabilities, Hawkeye combines functional and anatomical imaging in a single system. The unique design of the VG slip ring gantry allows both the Gamma Camera and X-Ray - CT detector model to rotate continuously in one direction, acquiring a complete CT data set specific to the nuclear imaging field of view.

HAWKEYE - Opening a new window in clinical Nuclear Medicine/PET:

This powerful synergy of imaging modalities incorporates highly precise transmission attenuation correction and accurate lesion localization for enhanced detectability in Cardiac and Oncology applications.

Advantages of CT for Attenuation Correction:

• Low Noise - High photon density produces low noise attenuation maps.
• One System for SPECT and PET - Scale bone and soft tissue from CT numbers to attenuation coefficients at any energy.
• Avoids NM Detector Limitations - No cross talk between the emission and transmission data. Using CT detector avoids dead time, pile up and other constraints associated with using Nuclear Detector.

Discovery VH

Discovery VH combines new coincidence detection, CoDe VC, 1 inch crystal imaging technology with Hawkeye, the world's first imaging system to integrate nuclear medicine and CT technology for increased diagnostic power.

CoDe VC, 1 inch - Premium quality Gamma
Camera PET:

• Thicker crystal has increased stopping power for better PET image resolution and lesion detectability.
• Scored crystal yield UNCOMPROMISED low energy image quality.
• Redesigned detector technology and advanced electronics (double photo - multiplier performance-95 tubes) provide superior gamma camera imaging capabilities at any energy level.
• Imaging capabilities from Thallium to FDG.