USA –RaySearch Laboratories, a medical technology company, and GE Healthcare have announced a collaboration agreement to develop a new radiation therapy simulation and treatment planning workflow solution that will take advantage of the most recent advances in treatment planning technology.

RaySearch’s advanced treatment planning system RayStation will be combined with GE Healthcare’s leading multi-modality (CT/MR/molecular imaging) simulator systems to make cancer treatment faster and more precise.

According to the US National Institutes of Health, more than 60% of cancer patients receive radiation therapy, which necessitates high-quality imaging to precisely target tumors while sparing healthy tissue.

Precision imaging is essential for determining the size, shape, and characteristics of tumors as well as distinguishing healthy tissues.

The time-consuming simulation process and the need to manually navigate multiple systems and workflows can be a major issue for oncologists.

The collaboration’s goal is to simplify this process by allowing point-of-care decision making in the simulation room.

The goal of GE Healthcare and RaySearch is to help hospitals and cancer treatment centers implement an interoperable and integrated workflow that will improve clinical planning and operational outcomes.

According to a press release, GE and RaySearch are collaborating to bring complementary technologies and solutions together in order to advance innovation and assist the radiation oncology community.

The partnership will enhance automation of radiation oncology processes in response to rising patient numbers and advancements in radiation treatment delivery procedures.

Further to that, GE Healthcare has announced a collaboration with Alliance Medical to develop a new digital health solution.

The companies will collaborate to bring together tools that streamline daily management and enable problem-solving, specifically for diagnostics in radiology departments, using advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI).

Alliance Medical, a European imaging services provider, will bolster its platforms with GE Healthcare’s analytics offerings, remote collaboration tools, and AI.

GE’s Imaging Growth Tile AI app is included, which will harmonize real-time data from across Alliance Medical sites to predict equipment, utilization, and suggest opportunities for scheduling optimization.

According to a news release from the companies, the collaboration aims to improve patient outcomes by standardizing protocols, minimizing radiation dosage required for imaging, and providing consistent, improved care across multiple sites.

The initial agreement is focused on the United Kingdom, but GE Healthcare and Alliance Medical intend to expand the model to other regions.

“Our software delivers a brand-new level of 360 visibility, allowing radiology departments to manage complexity and optimize productivity in a way that couldn’t be done before,” GE Healthcare Northern Europe GM Simon McGuire said.

“Most important of all, we hope it will unburden clinicians and empower them to focus on what matters most: providing the best patient care possible.”

The new agreement extends an existing partnership that includes a US$55.6 million (£45 million) agreement to supply more than 70 medical imaging systems over three years, according to the companies.

They have also worked together to create a model for rapid diagnostics in order to speed up cancer diagnosis.

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