GE HealthCare has secured a US$35m BARDA contract expansion for AI ultrasound tools intended to help non-expert users assess trauma patients.
The deal with the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) builds on a US$44m agreement struck in 2023 to fund tools for diagnosing patients in mass casualty incidents.
Under the original deal, GE HealthCare worked on AI-enabled algorithms for the non-invasive detection of intracranial pressure, the pressure inside the skull, and the assessment of abdominal and lung injuries.
The expanded agreement aims to enable more detailed assessments of lung conditions, including pleural pathologies affecting the lining around the lungs, and to improve detection of intra-abdominal injuries, which occur inside the abdomen.
GE HealthCare will also work to improve the reliability and usability of point-of-care ultrasound, often used at the bedside, in demanding settings such as field-based care.
GE HealthCare is jointly funding the latest phase of the project, although it said BARDA will provide most of the money.
The company said the latest agreement is covered by the same contract as the original 2023 deal. BARDA lists the total value of the deal as US$64m.
The BARDA deals form part of a broader push into AI by GE HealthCare.
Over the past two years, the company has struck deals to buy Intelerad for US$2.3bn, Icometrix for about US$98m upfront and MIM Software for about US$259m, with additional milestone payments. The acquisitions cover AI-enabled imaging technologies.
GE HealthCare chief executive Peter Arduini discussed the company’s focus on AI on an earnings call this month.
He said: These are the types of deals that we think make a lot of sense for the company relative to a strategic fit for us, the enablement of artificial intelligence to be deployed at an enterprise level, both inpatient and outpatient.
“We know the future of diagnosis is much more the integration of multi-modalities and how they’re read, and so having a critical platform such as this will be super important for us.”
Arduini added that there is “a flywheel effect” as the company launches AI-enabled devices, noting that the capture rate on service contracts “typically goes up” when AI devices come to market because the products are “very sophisticated”.
GE HealthCare has cautioned investors that its increasing investment in AI creates risks, adding that it may fail to drive global deployment and adoption of the technologies.
