Last week, GE Healthcare officially launched the Edison AI platform in Shanghai, China at its Digital Ecosystem Forum event. GE also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of strategic partnership with five local software development companies: Shukun Technology, Yizhun Medical AI, YITU Technology, 12Sigma Technologies and Biomind. 

Under the MoU, GE will cooperate with the five software vendors to develop the platform's applications in China.

THE LARGER TREND

GE Healthcare’s Edison platform was first introduced at last year’s Radiological Society of North America annual meeting in Chicago in November. The platform is touted as a way to help hospitals derive more value from their technology. Earlier this month, the US FDA gave clearance to the Critical Care Suite platform, which was developed in partnership with UC San Francisco and powered by GE’s Edison AI tech. The suite can help radiologists prioritise cases involving collapsed lungs.

ON THE RECORD

“I am very excited about GE Healthcare's strategic cooperation with five of China's top digital healthcare companies. Our strategic partners have software products of high maturity, the Edison ecosystem we are building with our partners is an important step in the digital transformation of GE Healthcare,” said Dai Ying, Chief Innovation Officer of GE Healthcare China, in a statement. 

Cathy Fang Cong, vice-president of YITU Technology, said: “One company might find it hard to handle the massive data generated during the healthcare process. The integration will innovate applications to better serve people's medical needs.”