GE Healthcare Unveils Next-Gen Fixed X-ray System Definium Tempo to Reduce Burnout and Improve Workflow and Productivity for Overburdened Radiology Departments

• A “personal assistant” that provides automation and support to technologists – reducing physical workload and improving operational efficiency, while maximizing a technologist’s time at patient’s bedside to help deliver the best patient care possible.
• Drives efficiency, reduces errors and decreases variability between imaging sessions and patients through Auto Positioning, Intelligent Workflow Suite, high resolution FlashPad HD detectors and advanced Helix Image Processing 2.1 software.

GE Healthcare introduced the Definium Tempo, a new fixed, overhead tube suspension (OTS) digital X-ray system designed to be a "personal assistant" to radiologists and technologists - leveraging automation to reducing workflow burdens and help radiology departments deliver the best patient care possible.

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GE Healthcare's Definium Tempo Fixed X-ray System (Photo: Business Wire)

Definium Tempo is designed to work with the technologist to operate efficiently and provide consistent, high-quality images, while allowing for more quality time with the patient. Acting much like an in-room ‘command center,’ the Definium Tempo’s tube-mounted console provides all the functionality needed for patient selection, protocol selection, technique modification and positioning setup - enabling the technologist to finish all exam setup and positioning work without having to leave the patient’s side. Automated workflows help start an exam and additional features, such as Auto Positioning, Auto Centering and Auto Tracking, automate the positioning of system components to maximize overall ergonomic operation for the technologist, while also helping to improve overall patient experience.

X-ray imaging often provides the entry point to diagnostic imaging - accounting for 60% of all imaging studies conducted¹. As a result, X-ray technologists, radiology administrators, and radiologists are required to manage an ever-increasing caseload. The daily challenges of heavy lifting, repetitive motions, uneasy patients, and long hours that lead to more than 70% of technologists experiencing work-related injuries². Variability in patient positioning and exam set up can lead to extra dose with ‘repeat and reject’ rates, or the need to retake images, as high as 25%^3,4 . These pressures add additional burden to already strained Radiology Departments. To help solve for these challenges, GE Healthcare leveraged automation to reduce patient positioning time, physical workload, errors, and image retakes through a user centered design with easy-to-use features that assist in reducing the number of workflow steps and actions required.

“I’ve been a technologist for over 17 years and using this system has been unlike anything I’ve experienced before – it’s a person inside the room with you at all times, it’s like you’re never working alone – it’s like a second technologist…” said Nadia Dorson, X-ray Technologist at North Central Bronx Hospital. “When you’re in front of your patient, you’re able to double check the patient’s information which is really important in making sure you’re setting up the exam properly. The camera provides real-time information on the patient so you can make necessary adjustments. And everything is as light as a feather, even down to the grid so I’m able to function better and am not encountering some of the day-to-day wear and tear I’ve experienced in the past.”

To address ‘repeat and reject’ rates that can negatively impact day-to-day clinical operations, the Definium Tempo is also equipped with features to deliver consistent images and help lower variability in patient positioning and image quality. Enabled by live streaming video and 3D depth cameras, the Intelligent Workflow Suite⁵ combines computer vision, video analytics and precision engineering to provide a collection of workflow enhancement tools formed by seamlessly combining the 3D video camera, computer vision and video analytics to help address positioning errors, poor image quality due to incorrect patient habitus selection and ambiguities during image reading due to unique conditions. The Intelligent Workflow Suite includes Position Assist, Technique Assist, and Patient Snapshot to help increase patient satisfaction by avoiding image retakes; produce more consistent images to increase technologists’ productivity; and improve clinical confidence by avoiding radiologist follow-up during diagnosis.

Additional features include Helix™ 2.1 Advanced Image Processing⁶ of quadruple resolution images provided by FlashPad HD detectors that produce images with exceptional anatomical detail and magnification at low dose, while simultaneously reducing electronic noise to improve patient experience.

“The Definium Tempo system has been an impressive addition to our department,” says Dr. Orlando Ortiz, Radiologist at North Central Bronx Hospital. “As a radiologist, image quality is everything and these images are a definite upgrade. It’s also had an immediate impact and been well-received by all our staff members, because it’s simple to use - with minimal steps and clicks required. Workflow was an important consideration to our team - it needed to save, or eliminate, unnecessary steps while keeping the technologist present with the patient. With user-friendly features embedded in the console, our technologists are able to stay focused on the patient in the room and on the table, and provide critical care to patients who are nervous, worried or anxious about the exam which helps improve overall outcomes and helps us get to diagnoses faster.”

For more information on GE Healthcare’s new Definium Tempo system and features, visit gehealthcare.com.

About GE Healthcare:

GE Healthcare is the $18 billion healthcare business of GE (NYSE: GE). As a leading global medical technology, pharmaceutical diagnostics and digital solutions innovator, GE Healthcare enables clinicians to make faster, more informed decisions through intelligent devices, data analytics, applications and services, supported by its Edison intelligence platform. With over 100 years of healthcare industry experience and around 47,000 employees globally, the company operates at the center of an ecosystem working toward precision health, digitizing healthcare, helping drive productivity and improve outcomes for patients, providers, health systems and researchers around the world.

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¹ World Health Organization Report -Communicating Radiation Risks in Pediatric Imaging

² Work related musculoskeletal disorders among radiologists and radiographers Deepak SHARAN, Mathankumar MOHANDOSS, Rameshkumar RANGANATHAN, Jerrish JOSE, Joshua Samuel RAJKUMARHUMAN FACTORS IN ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT – XI

³ Emerg Med J 2001;18:263–269 - Diagnostic errors in an accident and emergency department

⁴ Ann Emerg Med. 1984 Oct;13(10):900-904. Emerg Med J 2001;18(4):263-9

⁵ Denotes optional features

⁶ GE whitepaper: High resolution for improved visualization (DOC2045904)

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