New system makes mammograms easier
It has a remote that lets the patient adjust the compression
Here’s what happens when women design a new system for mammography:
Sharp edges and corners are eliminated, making the machine look less industrial and less intimidating. The bar that women are asked to grab, at times so tightly that it affects the quality of the mammogram, is replaced with arm rests.
And you get a wireless remote control that lets the woman, rather than a technician, adjust how much the breast is compressed, or pinched, for the scan.
Those are some of the features of GE Healthcare’s new system for mammography, given the brand name Senographe Pristina.
The system was designed by a team of women just outside Paris, where most of the design and manufacturing for GE Healthcare’s mammography systems is done. The unit is part of GE Healthcare’s imaging business based in Waukesha, Wis.
The first version of Senographe Pristina was introduced in the United States in November 2016. But the wireless remote control that lets women determine how much their breasts are compressed during the scan was just approved for use in the U.S. in September.
“It’s the first in the industry, so nothing like this exists,” said Agnes Berzsenyi, president and chief executive of women’s health care for GE Healthcare.
One surprising result: According to the initial data from Europe, where the remote control was first approved, women compress their breasts more than technicians do.
Compressing the breast spreads tissue, resulting in better images and requiring less radiation.
It also hurts.
But the remote control em-
powers the patient, making the test less intimidating, said Kathy Schilling, a radiologist and medical director of the Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Center at the Boca Raton Regional Hospital in Florida.
The goal of the new system is to make mammography less uncomfortable and reduce patients’ anxiety, with the hope that more women will get mammograms.
GE Healthcare estimates that one in four women experience anxiety or discomfort during a mammogram.
Only 69% of women 45 years and older reported having a mammogram within the past two years in 2013, according to the National Health Interview Survey.
Yet the American Cancer Society estimates that 40,610 women will die from breast cancer this year.
“If there was a way we can decrease the anxiety, fear, discomfort that these women face, then perhaps that could help improve compliance,” Schilling said.
Schilling conducted a clinical review of the wireless remote control.
The team of French designers also worked with patients to get ideas on how to make mammography more comfortable.
“It’s actually very cool,” said Sarah Janer, a senior analyst with GlobalData, a research company. “It’s kind of groundbreaking.”
GE Healthcare overall accounted for $18.3 billion of GE’s $123.7 billion in revenue last year. In July, Merrill Lynch estimated that GE Healthcare will have revenue of $18.9 billion this year, with 45% coming from diagnostic imaging and service.
The business has produced relatively steady returns for GE at a time when other divisions, such as power systems and oil and gas, have struggled.
Although GE remains one of the largest and most admired companies in the country, its stock has struggled for more than a decade.
Those struggles have led to speculation that GE’s new CEO, John Flannery, will consider selling or spinning off all or parts of GE Healthcare.
The company doesn’t disclose the revenue of its women’s health care business. But GlobalData estimates the worldwide market for mammography systems at $1.6 billion. Hologic is the market leader, with about 40% of the global market and more than half of the U.S. market, Janer said. GE Healthcare is a strong second, with a little more than 25% of the market.
Hospitals and clinics typically replace their mammography systems every seven to 10 years. The most advanced systems cost $300,000 to $500,000, depending on configuration.
Berzsenyi, who became president and CEO of women’s health care in December 2016, said the business has gained market share for the past four quarters in Europe since the introduction of Senographe Pristina.
It also has gained market share in the U.S. the past two quarters.
A Senographe Pristina system that can produce 3-D images was introduced in the U.S. in March, and the wireless remote was added last month. In 3-D mammography, a system takes a series of low-dose X-rays as it moves over the breast and then combines the images into a 3-D picture that can help physicians identify possible tumors.
More than 90% of new mammography systems use the technology, Berzsenyi said.
“There’s a shift to 3-D, for sure,” said Berzsenyi, a mechanical engineer born in Mateszalka, Hungary, who began her career at GE in 1995 at GE Aircraft Engines in Cincinnati.
The new system also marks a change of sorts. In the past, GE Healthcare and its competitors focused on how to improve the images from mammography and how to lower radiation dosages. Comfort, Schilling said, was overlooked.
“It’s the first in the industry, so nothing like this exists.”
Agnes Berzsenyi, president and chief executive of women’s health care for GE Healthcare