GE celebrates a decade of Vivid memories
At this year's European Society of Cardiology (ESC) meeting, GE Healthcare will celebrate a decade of achievements since it acquired Diasonics Vingmed Corporation.
‘To think about the achievements and strides we’ve made over the past ten years is remarkable,’ said Business General Manager Anders Wold, who joined GE from Diasonics Vingmed. ‘Perhaps even more remarkable, however, is to think of those achievements as a prologue to the endless possibilities ahead.’
1999 – GE introduced System FiVe, its first cardiovascular ultrasound system. This offered the then-breakthrough features of quantitative contrast imaging and DICOM connectivity.
2000 – GE’s new Vivid 3 became one of the first PC soft/hardware based ultrasound systems. The Vivid FiVe added tissue tracking to the series.
2001 – Debut of Vivid 7 and information management solution EchoPAC PC. Vivid 7 became GE’s high-end PC-based ultrasound scanner and the foundation for many future innovations.
2002 – Vivid 7 gained strain imaging as well as new vascular and shared service applications. Vivid 3 gained a new transducer (the3S) and EchoPAC connectivity.
2003 – TSI (Tissue Synchronisation Imaging) added to Vivid 7. Vivid 4 debuted with its 18 transducers.
2004 – Vivid 7 picked up the Dimension moniker based on its new real-time 4-D and multi-dimensional imaging capabilities. Vivid entered the compact ultrasound market with the introduction of the Vivid i. GE’s first compact cardiovascular ultrasound system brought the performance of 400-pound console systems into a lightweight, compact design. GE acquired Amersham and contrast agent Optison joined the GE portfolio.
2005 – Vivid 7 gained Automated IMT (intima-media thickness) measurements and 9-slice imaging. Structured findings came to EchoPAC and Image Vault.
2006 – Vivid e, brought compact ultrasound into doctor’s offices. Vivid & gained 4-D real time colour flow and AFI (Automated Function Imaging). 4D LV volume measurement came to EchoPAC.
2007 – Leveraging miniaturisation expertise gained from Vivid I and the performance of Vivid 7 and Vivid 4, launched Vivid S6 and S5 cardiovascular ultrasound systems. Vivid 7 gained ultra-definition imaging.
And now?
The 10,000th Vivid 7 and the 5,000th compact Vivid system will be sold this year.
In both the console and compact ultrasound lines, GE says it will introduce some significant new additions to the Vivid series. ‘In the console line, they’ll share the promise of true 4-D heart imaging, new 4-D quantitative tools and open the door to enable full cardiac studies in a completely 4-D environment. In the compact Vivid product line, we continue to add new quantitative analysis tools and new leading edge imaging quality enhancements, bringing even more diagnostic confidence into the equation. The new introductions will take users and their patients in directions they can only dream of.’
01.09.2008
