GE HealthCare, the global precision care innovator, has announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Caption Health, a privately owned artificial intelligence (AI) healthcare company that creates clinical applications to aid in early disease detection, using AI to assist in conducting ultrasound scans.
With Caption AI applications, ultrasound examinations can be easier and faster, enabling a broader set of healthcare professionals to conduct basic echocardiography exams. This technology can help detect signs of diseases like heart failure in at-risk patients across doctors’ offices, the home, and alternate sites of care, potentially preventing hospitalizations and supporting improved clinical outcomes.
GE HealthCare Ultrasound President and CEO Roland Rott said in a news release, “Guiding ultrasound users during examinations with the help of AI is of growing importance, especially as we reach a broader set of healthcare professionals. Caption Health’s AI applications help enable reliable, consistent ultrasound examinations to deliver more precise diagnoses, improved treatment decision-making, and ultimately improved patient outcomes. This tuck-in acquisition will help expand affordable access to ultrasound imaging to novice users and is aligned with a broader shift to precision care globally.”
Heart ultrasound examinations are the primary tool used to help identify heart failure, the most common diagnosis in the U.S. for hospitalized patients over the age of 651. It contributes to millions of deaths globally every year, but early symptoms like fatigue or shortness of breath are commonly confused for normal signs of aging.
As part of this acquisition, Caption Health will continue to provide management and administrative services to affiliated medical service providers (collectively called “Caption Care”). By providing trained technicians across the country equipped with the Caption Health AI technology to perform cardiac ultrasounds in alternate sites of care and, in the future, in the comfort of patient’s homes, Caption Care service is intended to support early diagnosis and detection before diseases like heart failure become more difficult to treat.
Caption Health also has a strong development pipeline of AI software, including innovative technology for the use of ultrasound in pulmonary applications.
The confirmation of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.
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