GE said that its healthcare unit will invest another $300 million in low-dose radiation technologies.
The investment brings GE Healthcare's low-dose radiation investment to more than $800 million over 15 years. GE Healthcare on Monday also rolled out a series of technologies to better manage radiation exposure during CT scans and X-rays.
GE made that announcement at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 2011 conference.
The standard unit of measure for radiation absorbed by an individual is called the "Sievert," or Sv (sometimes called the "millisievert," or mSv). Common medical imaging tests such as X-rays or mammograms generally expose patients to a radiation dose of less than 1 mSv. Other procedures using CT, nuclear stress tests, or fluoroscopy-guided exams often involve radiation in the range of 5-40 mSv.
Single treatments don't harm the patient, but the exposure can add up. GE is looking to balance the risk and rewards in imaging tests.
Among the key technologies:
The company is also offering Webinars on ways to manage the tradeoffs between better images and lower radiation doses.
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com