GE HealthCare to acquire AI business from ultrasound firm for $51M, plus more vendor news
GE HealthCare has reached a deal to acquire the clinical AI business from Intelligent Ultrasound for $51 million, the two announced Thursday.
Based in Cardiff, Wales, Intelligent Ultrasound specializes in integrated, AI-driven tools to make scans “smarter and more efficient.” Chicago-headquartered GE said it plans to integrate the company’s solutions into its own US business line, aiming to enhance ease-of-use.
"We are pleased to bring innovative technology from Intelligent Ultrasound into GE HealthCare’s ultrasound portfolio, allowing us to fully integrate these solutions into our systems to help clinicians improve workflow, reduce repetitive tasks and simplify exams,” said Phil Rackliffe, president and CEO of Ultrasound and Image Guided Therapies at GE HealthCare.
Products changing hands in the deal include ScanNav Anatomy (real-time highlighting for anesthetists carrying out peripheral nerve blocks) and ScanNav Assist. The latter is an AI-based, real-time image analysis software to support sonographers during OB-GYN ultrasound exams. GE plans to integrate these tools into its Voluson SWIFT ultrasound machines.
It also touted the addition of a new AI innovation pipeline, with GE Healthcare welcoming a team of research and development experts from Intelligent Ultrasound. The company sees great potential to relieve burdens placed on sonographers. About 81% of hospitals report rad tech shortages and 90% of sonographers surveyed are grappling with musculoskeletal disorders due to workload and repetitive motions.
“I really believe that we are at the start of a wave of AI making a profound difference to medical imaging, and especially ultrasound,” said Nick Sleep, chief operating officer, Intelligent Ultrasound. “Becoming part of the GE HealthCare family will help speed the adoption of this technology and make ultrasound even easier for customers to use.”
GE hopes to close the transaction in the fourth quarter, pending meeting certain conditions such as shareholder approval. It plans to fund the deal with cash on hand. You can read more about the merger in a separate announcement from Intelligent Ultrasound.
Hologic generates $800M in free cash flow
Moody’s Ratings affirmed its outlook for breast imaging vendor Hologic on Wednesday while highlighting its strong liquidity, scale and “leading” market position.
The Marlborough, Massachusetts-based mammography system-maker is expected to generate free cash flow of roughly $800 million annually, “driven by strong revenue and earnings growth.” Hologic had about $2.2 billion in cash as of March 31 and another $2 billion from its undrawn revolver.
Its debt-to-earnings ratio sat at roughly 2.1x at the end of Q2, with “good revenue and diversity by product and customer.”
“The stable rating outlook reflects our view that Hologic will continue to increase its scale by sustaining mid-single-digit organic growth in the long-term and pursue both tuck-in and potentially larger acquisitions,” Moody’s said in its July 17 announcement, affirming Hologic’s Ba1 corporate family credit rating.
Top-line revenue growth is expected to continue, driven by “strong market positions” in core franchises such as digital mammography, cervical screening and molecular diagnostics.
Company aiming to launch new full-body scanner raises $27M
Q Bio Inc. has raised $27 million in funding as it aims to release a full-body MRI scanner to market, the company announced Thursday.
New investor TELUS Global Ventures led the fundraising round alongside existing supporters Khosla Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals.
Based in San Carlos, California, Q Bio’s system delivers full-body scans with immediate access to quantifiable data across 3,000 anatomical measurements. Leaders said this “first in the field” approach allows its Mark I to eliminate the need for multiple exams, capturing “extensive quantitative anatomical data in a single session.”
“The early interest we’re seeing in the Mark I is considerable, and this new funding will bolster our efforts to accelerate manufacturing plans as we continue our journey through regulatory approvals in the United States,” Clarissa Shen, chief operating officer at Q Bio, said in a July 18 announcement shared by HIT Consultant.
Founded in 2015, Q Bio’s scanner uses proprietary “tensor field mapping technology.” Unlike conventional MRI, it deploys an open design, eliminating the need for enclosed spaces. Scans take about 10 minutes and require no breath-holding, while its compact size makes it suitable for various care settings.
The company is already offering whole-body, benchmark-setting scans through a pilot site in Redwood City, California, charging $3,495 per exam, Fierce Healthcare reported.
Rapid fire
A bunch more vendor news items of note, in rapid fashion:
- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently cleared a software update from portable MRI-maker Hyperfine, new AI-powered synthetic imaging technology from Subtle Medical, and a dedicated brain PET system from Positrigo.
- Bon Secours Mercy Health and Philips have signed a multi-year strategic collaboration, allowing one of the nation’s largest Catholic health systems to deploy patient-monitoring technology across 40-plus care sites.
- LucidHealth and Rad AI have finalized a partnership agreement for the private equity-backed provider to use the vendor’s Rad AI Omni Impressions solution.
- Mexican radiology AI vendor Eden has secured $10 million in capital, with Sierra Ventures leading the funding round.
- RadNet Inc. AI subsidiary DeepHealth has expanded operations with a new office in Bengaluru, India.
- The American Medical Association has granted a Category III CPT add-on code for intraoperative fluorescence imaging margin assessment following breast cancer lumpectomy, vendor Lumicell announced.
- Radiopharmaceutical developers Blue Earth Diagnostics and Lantheus both applauded a Medicare proposal to issue separate payments for such diagnostic imaging agents.
- Locum tenens agency Medicus Healthcare Solutions released a white paper about the radiologist shortage.
- Rayus Radiology has partnered with DailyPay, a work-tech company that grants employees early access to their checks.
- Bracco Diagnostics has discontinued three out-of-use barium imaging agents while launching initiative to develop new and expanded product offerings.
- Eli Lilly is paying $140 million for the exclusive rights to buy radiopharmaceuticals developer Radionetics Oncology for $1 billion.
- AGFA HealthCare recently launched an enterprise imaging for pathology solution in North America.
- Fujifilm has released a new 0.4T open MRI system.
- And finally, GE HealthCare, the University of Cincinnati, UC Health, and Cincinnati Children’s are establishing a collaboration with the goal of accelerating MRI innovation.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.