SLUHN Invests in AI-Enabled MRI Technology from GE HealthCare

GE HealthCare (Nasdaq: GEHC), a leading medical technology innovator, and St. Luke’s University Health Network of Bethlehem, Pa., a nationally recognized nonprofit healthcare network, announced that St. Luke’s has made a $30+ million investment in leading-edge Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology and service from GE HealthCare. The investment is intended to expand patient access to advanced imaging that can help to enhance image quality while reducing scan times and patient discomfort.

“This is a major win for our patients and our community,” St. Luke’s Radiology Chairman Dr. Robert Fournier said. “Medical specialties such as orthopedics, cardiology and oncology rely on imaging for diagnosis and treatment planning. At St. Luke’s, we are committed to providing the best imaging technology because we understand its vital role in modern medicine.”

This latest MRI investment follows previous commitments to GE HealthCare’s imaging solutions, including a $30 million investment in CT technology in 2023 and an $11 million investment in ultrasound technology in 2020.

“We are pleased to build upon our more than 30-year relationship with St. Luke’s to upgrade their MR fleet, including adding artificial intelligence technology,” said Catherine Estrampes, President and CEO, U.S. and Canada at GE HealthCare. “We are proud to work with St. Luke’s to enable greater precision, efficiency, and access to advanced technology for their patients.”

Standardizing imaging technology across the Network can help to provide numerous advantages, including the capacity for improved operational efficiency, which ultimately expands patient access.

These new MRI systems can help to enhance the patient experience by reducing claustrophobia with wider scanners and also come equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI), which can help to significantly improve both the quality and speed of MRI scans.

Scan times may be reduced by up to 83% with GE HealthCare’s Sonic DL AI application—potentially capturing an image of the heart in as little as a single heartbeat—while helping to optimize the image quality.

St. Luke’s will be one of the first network health systems in the United States to implement Intelligent™ Radiation Therapy (iRT) for MR, a software solution that can help to improve and accelerate the radiation oncology care pathway. This software allows more precise radiation therapy planning and can help to enable a shorter timeline to treatment over conventional CT for certain types of cancers.