GE and Surgi-Vision sign marketing agreement

General Electric Medical Systems has entered into a marketing and distribution agreement with Surgi-Vision, a manufacturer of specialized MR coils used to take images from inside the body. Last year, Surgi-Vision received 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration for clinical use of a new coil to image the esophagus and aorta. The coil will be distributed exclusively with the GE Signa CV/I MRI scanner, which images the heart and blood vessels.

Future products from Surgi-Vision will provide high-resolution images of the heart, urethra, and prostate. The new technology for the coils was developed at the Johns Hopkins University Department of Radiology. Doctors will now be able to explore intravascular plaques through the use of MR technology in a noninvasive procedure, said Dennis Cooke, global general manager of GE’s MR business.