GE HealthCare has announced the signing of a $44 million contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) as part of a federal program aimed at addressing mass casualty scenarios.
According to a statement from GE HealthCare, the money will be used to “to develop and obtain regulatory clearance for next-generation advanced point-of-care ultrasound technology with new artificial intelligence applications” as part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), a federal program for disaster preparedness and recovery.
This technology would potentially be used in emergency triage, enabling users of all skill levels to perform ultrasounds guided by AI. The goal is to increase the number of capable people who can perform scans necessary to identify traumatic injury, as well as potentially infectious diseases, particularly of the lungs.
“Point-of-care ultrasound is an essential tool in emergency situations to help clinicians quickly get the answers they need when treating patients,” Roland Rott, president and CEO of ultrasound at GE HealthCare, said in the statement. “Our collaboration has the potential to enhance the ability of clinicians to provide timely care for trauma patients even in the most dire scenarios.”
The contract and all development is supported with federal funds. GE HealthCare said the technology it develops for the project will be compatible with other point-of-care ultrasound systems from its line of devices, many of which are already in emergency and critical care environments.
The BARDA collaboration follows a recent announcement of the company’s new AI guidance system upgrade for most of its ultrasound systems, developed from its acquisition of Caption Health back in February.
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