GE Healthcare and MediView team up to combine AR and medical imaging

The two companies are co-developing a new solution that will also allow for remote collaboration

Augmented and virtual reality is growing fast within the healthcare sector: the global market was valued at $2.3 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach around $19.6 billion by 2030. These tools are already being used within spaces such as physical therapy, surgery, and mental health. 

One of the companies in the space, MediView XR, incorporates augmented reality technology into medical imaging, creating a 3D hologram above the patient's body that surgeons are able to view through an AR headset. Using live feeds, sensor analysis, and biometric data, surgeons are able to better understand the anatomy beneath the skin. 

Now the company has a new partner, having announced a collaboration with GE Healthcare, and together they will co-develop the OmnifyXR Interventional Suite System, combining MediView’s 3D augmented reality medical visualization, surgical navigation, and telecollaboration capabilities with GE Healthcare’s interventional imaging technologies, digital infrastructure, data analytics, and clinical decision support capabilities.

OmnifyXR will provide a heads-up, augmented reality display of interventional x-ray imaging systems using Microsoft’s HoloLens technology. It will integrate multiple holographic displays of live imaging for improved anatomy visualization. The aim is to help clinicians make better, and more informed, decisions.

The solution also features remote collaboration so that clinicians can partner, train, proctor, and collaborate, even if they aren't in the same room..

The plan is for GE Healthcare and MediView to co-market OmnifyXR; the two companies also said they will explore opportunities for joint go-to-market efforts. It will initially launch in the United States, with global expansion planned for the future.

MediView and GE Healthcare initially partnered in 2021, signing a Strategic Development Agreement, in which MediView would leverage GE’s Edison Developer Program.

Founded in 2017, the Cleveland, OH-based MediView's solutions include XR90, a visualization and navigation system for minimally invasive procedures for soft tissue and bone; XR50, an ultrasound imaging solution with a holographic needle trajectory for needle-based procedure; and MediScout, its collaborative imaging platform. 

“We are thrilled to advance our strategic collaboration with GE Healthcare by co-developing and creating the interventional suite of the future - one that is designed to improve ergonomics, with natural interactions for optimized workflow and facilitates care team collaboration. The physician is empowered to simultaneously interface with virtual monitors, holographic 3D anatomy, and remotely collaborate with colleagues around the world,” Mina Fahim, President and CEO of MediView, said in a statement.

"Utilizing GE Healthcare’s exceptional imaging and MediView’s expertise in real-time augmented reality visualization and navigation, we’re proud to together launch one of the largest deployments of augmented reality in healthcare to-date and grow clinical adoption of innovative extended reality solutions.”

MediView has raised $14.4 million in venture funding, including a $9.9 million round earlier this year. 

(Image source: mediview.com)