GE Healthcare of Chalfont St. Giles, U.K., and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) announced today the formation of a new company called Omnyx to develop digital acquisition, image management, and storage systems for pathology applications.
Omnyx will have its headquarters in Pittsburgh and is being jointly funded by both GE and UPMC. The company's mission is to revolutionize how pathology labs diagnose disease using digital technology, according to Gene Cartwright, Omnyx's new CEO. Initiating a joint venture with an academic medical center is a first for GE and is part of the company's initiative to trigger organic innovation.
GE and UPMC are investing $20 million each in the new company, and the State of Pennsylvania has provided a $100,000 grant and $80,000 in tax credits, according to an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The GE-UPMC discussions began two years ago, and this is the fourth joint-development relationship for UPMC, according to the newspaper.
Omnyx will be installing a prototype high-speed pathology slide scanner, software, and storage system in the pathology departments of UPMC. The patent-pending scanner, using technology developed by GE Global Research Center of Niskayuna, NY, can digitize the contents of a glass slide in 30 seconds. Proprietary data streaming technology will be used for rapid transfer and display of a 10-GB slide for rapid review and analysis by pathologists. A typical pathology study might consist of 10-30 slides.
Many industry experts have viewed pathology as the next healthcare specialty set for going digital, but the large file sizes of pathology slides have been an impediment.
"There has been tremendous interest in digitizing the pathology lab," Cartwright said. "Technology barriers relating to speed of scanning and digitizing images, the ability to transfer huge data files efficiently to meet workflow requirements, and the cost of storage have prevented widespread adoption. We believe that we have developed a prototype for commercialization that overcomes these obstacles."
The prototypes in development will be shown at professional conferences by 2009 and are scheduled for commercial rollout in early 2010, after U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval is received. Pathologists may save up to 15% within the first year of using Omnyx's products, Cartwright predicts.
Cartwright joined GE Healthcare in 2005 as president of molecular diagnostics for life sciences. He previously was vice president of strategic programs at Abbott Laboratories of Abbott Park, IL, where he spent a 23-year career.
Other Omnyx executive board members include Mark Little, senior vice president and director of GE's Global Research Center; Vishal Wanchoo, president and CEO of GE Healthcare IT; Dan Drawbaugh, chief information officer at UPMC; and Stephen Boochever, executive vice president of the International and Commercial Services Division of UPMC.
Analysts suggest the global digital pathology market will be worth $2 billion by 2010, according to GE Healthcare and UPMC.
By Cynthia Keen
AuntMinnie.com contributing writer
June 5, 2008
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