GE and R2 extend partnership

The first company to commercialize a full-field digital mammography system and the first to deliver mammography CAD have renewed their alliance. GE Medical Systems (Waukesha, WI) and R2 Technology (Sunnyvale, CA) announced Dec. 12 that R2's ImageChecker CAD system would continue to be distributed with GE's Senographe 2000D full-field digital mammography system. More than 100 such combinations are already operating in clinical sites, according to GE, and there is room for substantial growth. More than 550 Senographe 2000D systems have been installed in the U.S., and all are upgradable to R2's CAD technology. The FDA originally cleared the ImageChecker system in 1998 for use with film-based screening mammography to assist radiologists in minimizing false-negative readings. Supplemental approvals by the FDA allowed the technology to be used in combination with the Senographe 2000D.