Cincinnati Children’s & GE HealthCare to Launch Pediatric Care Innovation Hub

What You Should Know: 

– Cincinnati Children’s and GE HealthCare are joining forces to establish a strategic research program focused on driving clinical and technical research to improve pediatric care delivery.

– The collaboration will span multiple medical imaging modalities, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, molecular imaging (MI), and computed tomography (CT).

Pediatric Care Innovation

The initiative will create the first pediatric Care Innovation Hub in the nation, representing a new model for collaboration between GE HealthCare and Cincinnati Children’s. By combining their respective strengths, the organizations aim to accelerate innovation and scientific advancements to benefit pediatric patients. A key aspect of this collaboration is its focus on addressing the unique challenges of pediatric imaging. Children present a wide range of sizes and positioning needs, making them a particularly challenging patient population. The “built for kids” mission aims to drive innovations in diagnostic imaging that can also be applied beyond pediatric use cases. 

Key Pillars of the Care Innovation Hub

– Developing Pediatric Excellence in MRI: The partnership will focus on developing and testing prototypes of high-density MR coil arrays specifically designed for children. This aims to improve patient comfort and enable more precise images in smaller patients. Additionally, the collaboration will emphasize developing imaging techniques that address the challenges of imaging children, such as motion-robust methods for faster, high-quality exams across various applications.

– Unlocking Solutions in Clinical Challenges of Ultrasound: Ultrasound projects will involve collaboration between the radiology and cardiology departments at Cincinnati Children’s and GE HealthCare. This collaboration will focus on product development and gathering early clinical feedback specific to pediatric use to guide the future of GE HealthCare features and devices, including AI algorithms. The partnership will also work to improve the use of ultrasound for gathering measurable data, including the development of new technology and clinical evidence for liver imaging techniques. 

– Evaluating Molecular Imaging in Pediatrics: The collaboration will evaluate new and emerging technologies in positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging. This includes exploring the personalization of treatment plans based on optimized software workflows. Cincinnati Children’s and GE HealthCare will collaborate on optimizing and improving image reconstruction and developing evidence demonstrating the utility of PET and SPECT imaging in pediatric applications. 

– Optimizing, Evaluating Computed Tomography for Pediatrics: The partnership will focus on optimizing and automating CT workflows for pediatric patients and the clinicians who serve them. Researchers will evaluate new CT technology in a pediatric context and disseminate best practices to healthcare providers globally. 

“Collaborating with GE HealthCare is an opportunity to leverage Cincinnati Children’s clinical and research capabilities and participate in technology development with a global imaging leader. Rather than having to adapt techniques created for adults to pediatric use as is usually necessary, access to the latest technology at earlier stages of development will allow us to create pediatric-focused imaging technology from the beginning,” said Brian Coley, MD, Radiologist-in-Chief at Cincinnati Children’s. “Once developed, this partnership will foster translation into the broader pediatric healthcare ecosystem, bringing these advances to pediatric imaging worldwide and making the impact that Cincinnati Children’s, as a research powerhouse, is known for.”