Gentuity and GE HealthCare Partner on IVI
Gentuity's advanced intravascular imaging (IVI) solutions will now be available in the U.S. through a new partnership with GE HealthCare. The collaboration aims to expand access to next-generation modalities for both hospital and outpatient settings, reflecting a market trend toward deploying more advanced specialty imaging flexibly.
- The intravascular imaging market, which includes technologies like intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT), is projected to grow from over $430 million in 2025 to over $700 million by 2035. Key market share leaders include Philips, Abbott Laboratories, and Boston Scientific. - This partnership aligns with a significant market shift of cardiovascular procedures to outpatient settings, including ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and office-based labs (OBLs). This trend is largely driven by changes in reimbursement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which has approved more cardiac catheterization and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures for the ASC setting. - For mobile imaging providers, the expansion of outpatient cardiac services presents an opportunity, with some companies offering mobile cath labs to help ASCs add capacity without large capital investments. Major players in the broader mobile imaging market include RadNet, Inc., Alliance HealthCare Services, and MedQuest Associates, P.C. - The adoption of advanced imaging in outpatient centers requires a focus on operational efficiency to remain profitable, as operating expenses for diagnostic imaging centers can be over 85% of revenue. Key strategies for profitability include automating patient scheduling and engagement to increase appointment volumes and reduce patient no-shows. - For radiology directors and imaging administrators, the American College of Radiology (ACR) provides crucial guidelines, such as the ACR-SPR Practice Parameter for the Use of Intravascular Contrast Media, which outlines best practices for patient safety. The ACR also establishes Appropriateness Criteria to guide imaging decisions. - Artificial intelligence is increasingly integrated into intravascular imaging to enhance workflow and diagnostic accuracy. For example, Abbott's Ultreon Software, which is FDA-cleared, uses AI to automatically detect calcium and measure vessel diameters. This can reduce procedure times by 15-25% and improve diagnostic accuracy by 12-18%. - Another FDA-cleared AI technology from HeartFlow provides non-invasive plaque analysis from coronary CT angiography, offering comprehensive data on plaque volume and characteristics. Such AI-driven tools can help automate routine tasks, improve image analysis, and provide real-time decision support in the cath lab. - Staffing is a critical consideration for outpatient cath labs, with a common model including a circulating registered nurse, a radiologic technologist, a scrub person, and a monitoring person. To mitigate staffing shortages and burnout, some facilities are utilizing interim staffing solutions and focusing on creating flexible staffing models based on procedural complexity and volume.
