Pittsburgh, PA - 10/27/2011 -- GE announced today shipment of the Omnyx™ VL4 scanner to beta customers worldwide. To date, six Omnyx VL4 scanners have been shipped and are in operation for testing purposes and this marks a significant milestone in Omnyx's efforts to deliver a leading Integrated Digital Pathology solution. The Omnyx solution will be demonstrated at the upcoming Pathology Visions conference in San Diego.

The Omnyx VL4 scanner was created through the joint venture of UPMC and GE Healthcare. It is designed to resolve the tradeoff between speed and image quality through its patented two camera technology. All scanning operations, including tissue detection and focus, are automated to minimize labor. It is tightly integrated to an enterprise software solution that enables high-speed digital viewing over standard networks and provides a complete digital workflow for research use for both the pathologist and histology personnel.

George Michalopoulos, M.D., Chair of Pathology at UPMC, comments:

"The recent shipment of the VL4 scanner to UPMC allows us to further test the Omnyx technology and make progress toward digitizing our department. Whether you look at the software system or the scanning instruments, the Omnyx team has delivered an integrated product that will help advance pathology."

Feedback from the various beta testing sites is instrumental in preparing the products for commercial availability.

Dr. Sylvia Asa, Chair of Pathology at University Health Network said:

"I have been impressed with the image quality of the VL4and I have high expectations for the Omnyx product. The Omnyx images are the best I have seen.   In addition, there were several instances when I favored the Omnyx digital image on the monitor over the glass slide in the microscope."

So far, University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto Canada has scanned and reviewed over 2,000 slides as part of its testing activities. They started with 5 pathologists, and within 7 weeks had 22 pathologists from 9 specialty areas testing the system. This demonstrates its intuitive ease of use and is a result of the system having been designed by pathologists, for pathologists. Dr. Andrew Evans will discuss UHN's preliminary experience with the Omnyx Integrated Digital Pathology solution and the VL4 scanner at the upcoming Pathology Visions tradeshow in San Diego.

Gene Cartwright, CEO of the Omnyx joint venture comments:

"We are grateful and thankful for the support we are receiving from our beta sites. Great customers help us make a better product. There is no better way of making sure we have it right than working hand-in-hand with our customers. We expect the field of digital pathology will advance very quickly once a complete solution is made available.   The shipment of the Omnyx VL4 scanner is a very important milestone toward that goal."

The Omnyx Integrated Digital Pathology solution is designed to integrate into a comprehensive platform what are often stand alone products.  It combines high speed, high quality whole slide scanning with scalable information technology products to create a solution that addresses the reliability and process requirements of pathologists and enables single and multi-site organizations to benefit from increased efficiencies and greater access to peers in the field.  The Omnyx products are for research use only and not for diagnostic use.

The Omnyx product line will include scanners, workstations, algorithms, servers, and digital archives for storage.

By digitizing the slides and corresponding workflow, the Omnyx solution is intended to do what a traditional microscope cannot, and improve collaboration, communication and efficiency.

ABOUT OMNYX

Omnyx, LLC http://www.omnyx.com is a joint venture of GE Healthcare and UPMC (the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) with locations in Pittsburgh, PA and Piscataway, NJ. The company is developing an Integrated Digital Pathology system to allow pathology departments worldwide to move to an all-digital workflow.   Their products include a family of high speed whole-slide scanners and an enterprise software product enabling image management, workflow automation, image analysis algorithms and system integration.   Close collaboration with pathologists at UPMC and other institutions along with their relationship with GE Healthcare allows Omnyx to focus its innovation on the needs of anatomic pathologists worldwide. Omnyx products are currently in development and are for research use only. They are not for use in diagnostic procedures.

ABOUT GE HEALTHCARE:

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

Our "healthymagination" vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at http://www.gehealthcare.com.