Ge To Install Online Medical Network Across 50 Centres

General Electric (GE) Medical Systems India is currently installing an online medical network in the country. This network will connect nearly 50 centres across the country that use GE diagnostic and medical equipment.

There are six centres on this network already, said D.A. Prasanna, region director and CEO of GE Medical Systems India speaking to Business Standard. All the six centres (two in Bangalore, one each in Delhi, Chennai, Calicut and Mumbai) are using GEs high end Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) systems.

The countrywide network, connecting all GE medical systems using very small aperture terminal (VSATs), will herald the first telemedicine network in the country. The Indian network will plug into GEs worldwide medical diagnostics network called InSite. The InSite network connects more than 11,000 sites in 48 countries. And it is the worlds largest, and best proven remote diagnostic network.

 

The remote diagnosis is of two types. It can be used to detect faults in the machine itself and suggest remedial action or it can be used to accurately identify ailments or diseases. Because of various legal and technical issues, we will concentrate only on the equipment side for the moment, said Prasanna.

The remote diagnosis is made possible by an accumulated body of expert knowledge that is InSites main feature. It is a gigantic database located at Milwaukee, US.

The database contains information on every GE equipment in the world, the nearest source of spare parts for that equipment and the exact functional details of the machine.

If a machine part fails, the nearest source of replacement can be quickly traced and orders placed. A replacement can be made between 24 and 36 hours, he said.

The network will also eliminate the possibility of mistakes or incorrect diagnosis. Doctors using our equipment need not be experts in every field now, said Prasanna. Instead they can fall back on the resources of the network and its database to check, say, for the precise parameters for scanning a particular organ in the body or to check the exact strength of the magnetic field needed to conduct an MRI.

The main hub of the Indian GE network will be located at Bangalore, which is currently being installed and is expected to be up and running by end of the year.

Currently, Indian GE centres are connected to the companys Singapore hub.

Prasanna, who is also the president and CEO of Wipro GE Medical Systems, was in town recently to receive the Department of Electronics (DoE) awards for excellence in research and development.