GE acquires photon-counting detector firm Prismatic

GE Healthcare has acquired Swedish startup Prismatic Sensors, which specializes in the development of photon-counting detectors for CT scanners and whose CEO is Mats Danielsson, professor in physics of medical imaging in Stockholm.

GE said photon-counting CT technology can create a new standard of care in oncology, cardiology, neurology, and other clinical areas by visualizing the minute details of organ structures, characterizing tissues better, and more accurately determining material density, while also lowering radiation dose.

Prismatic Sensors has patented a method to position silicon sensors "edge on" so the detector is deep enough to absorb very-high-energy photons and fast enough to count hundreds of millions of CT photons per second. Silicon-based detectors enable superior spectral resolution without compromising on count rate or spatial resolution, Prismatic said.

GE expects to complete the Prismatic Sensors acquisition by January 2021. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.