First Medical Imaging Product to be Recognized as an Ecomagination Product

GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company, today announced its Signa HDe 1.5T Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system as the first medical imaging product from GE Healthcare to be recognized as an ecomagination offering after completing the company's rigorous internal environmental and operational evaluation, recognizing it as one of the most energy efficient 1.5T MRI systems commercially available.

Ecomagination is GE’s commitment to imagine and build innovative technologies that help customers address their environmental and financial needs, such as the need for cleaner, more efficient sources of energy. The Signa HDe 1.5T was recognized as an ecomagination product on the basis of energy savings, as well as operating benefits. Compared to the average 1.5T MRI system, the GE Signa HDe 1.5T is designed to use over 20% less space, increasing siting flexibility.

By employing efficient gradients and an innovative water-cooling technology, the GE Signa HDe 1.5T uses approximately 62% less energy than GE’s previous generation MRI systems while still allowing the MRI system to achieve outstanding image quality.

“We are extremely excited and proud as an MRI business to feature the first ecomagination product for GE Healthcare,” said Jim Davis, vice president and general manager of GE Healthcare’s global MRI business. “The Signa HDe is a reflection of our commitment to produce quality, energy-efficient technologies for our customers worldwide.”

Rising energy costs and heightened concern for the environmental consequences of energy consumption make the need for high quality, efficient technology a universal concern across many industries, including healthcare.

This MRI system reduces annual electricity use by about 100,000 kWh, equivalent to a projected saving of over $10,000 per year under normal operating conditions in 2008 in the US. The electricity that a single HDe system saves on an annual basis is roughly equivalent to:

• The annual electricity consumption of 23 households in the UK
• The annual electricity consumption of about 70 urban households in China

For the 2008 Beijing Olympics Games, two Signa HDe 1.5T are installed at the Olympic Village General Hospital in Beijing, caring for more than 10,500 athletes from over 200 countries.