By Jean-Luc Procaccini, President & CEO, Molecular Imaging and Computed Tomography, GE Healthcare

After adapting to a new way of engineering products in the midst of a global pandemic, we are thrilled to introduce GE Healthcare’s new Revolution Ascend[i] CT system with Effortless Workflow – enabling clinicians to reach new heights in CT performance.

For nearly 50 years, CT has proven to be a vital imaging tool used by clinicians to detect cancer, stroke, heart conditions, and other diseases. However, as CT procedure volume grows – reaching an all-time high ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic – so too does the need to optimize CT protocols and expand patient positioning options to help expedite exams and accommodate more patients.

As explained by industry expert Timothy P. Szczykutowicz, PhD, director of clinical operations and the CT Protocol Project at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health as well as author of The CT Handbook: Optimizing Protocols for Today's Feature-Rich Scanners:

“The most time-consuming part of the CT experience isn’t the scan itself, but the steps that fall outside the scan. Within a typical 10–30-minute CT exam, the scan itself only takes a few minutes and the remainder of the time is dedicated to patient prep – including positioning the patient and identifying the correct protocols and settings, plus image reconstruction and report time. Historically, these have been manual processes, putting them at risk of human error; however, AI offers new opportunities to automate workflows and expedite exams with the same or better results.”

Revolution Ascend helps address these challenges with GE Healthcare’s Effortless Workflow, a new suite of AI solutions that personalize scans accurately and automatically for each patient, while requiring significantly less effort from the CT technologist. As a result, the AI-based features can:

Position patients with 94% auto centering accuracy within +/- 2 cm[ii];
Suggest protocols with 90% accuracy[iii];
Automate and expedite workflows with a 66% reduction in clicks[iv];
Save 56% of time for scan settings and 21% for the entire exam[v];
Reduce up to 91% image noise at the same dose[vi], [vii]; and
Improve spatial resolution up to 2x at the same image quality [vi], [vii].

Additionally, the system’s new 75 cm wide-gantry, 40 mm detector coverage, and lower table position are designed to accommodate high body mass index (BMI) patients as well as trauma cases that would otherwise be too delicate to maneuver in a smaller size gantry.

Not only does the system’s wide-gantry design help accommodate more patients with various physical limitations, but its cutting-edge AI also helps expedite exams so healthcare system schedules can accommodate additional patient scans. Altogether, Revolution Ascend with Effortless Workflow helps empower clinicians to reach the right diagnosis as efficiently and precisely as possible for more patients.

But you don’t have to take our word for it – see what our customers have to say for yourself:

For more information on GE Healthcare’s new Revolution Ascend CT system with Effortless Workflow, visit gehealthcare.com.

[i] Revolution Ascend is 510(k) cleared and CE marked. Available for sale in the US as well as EU countries. Not available for sale in all regions.

[ii] Measured centering accuracy which was scanned 921 standard routine exams in head and body with Auto positioning in three institutions using a pilot product.

[iii] Results may vary depending on the circumstances, including but not limited to, exam type, clinical practice. This analysis was performed on 3175 exams representing 17 different exam descriptions, collected from 4 different medical evaluation site.

[iv] The required clicks are defined as clicks required to execute a scan from selecting a new patient til start scan. All associated clicks for and in clinical practice, number of the required clicks may vary depending on the circumstances, including but not limited to, the clinical task, exam type, clinical practice, and image reconstruction technique.

[v] The data was based on comparison between GE’s legacy products (16ch and 64ch scanner) and Revolution Ascend in the three institutions using a pilot product and selected routine head and body. The data set of this comparison was 838 exams for legacy products and 1387 exams for Revolution Ascend. The time saving value may not be effective for all institutions depending on the clinical practice. Definition of entire exam time is from “Open new patient” to “Last primary recon completed” for Revolution Ascend and “Close exam” for legacy products.

[vi] Image quality as defined by low contrast detectability.

[vii] In clinical practice, the use of ASiR‐V may reduce CT patient dose depending on the clinical task, patient size, anatomical location, and clinical practice. A consultation with a radiologist and a physicist should be made to determine the appropriate dose to obtain diagnostic image quality for the particular clinical task. Low Contrast Detectability (LCD), Image Noise, Spatial Resolution and Artifact were assessed using reference factory protocols comparing ASiR‐V and FBP. The LCD measured in 0.625 mm slices and tested for both head and body modes using the MITA CT IQ Phantom (CCT183, The Phantom Laboratory), using model observer method.