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RCT Licenses Ultrasound Tissue Harmonic Imaging Technology to General Electric
Monday, December 17, 2007
Tucson, AZ -- Research Corporation Technologies (RCT) has granted General Electric Company a nonexclusive license to pioneering patents owned by RCT that broadly cover ultrasound tissue harmonic imaging (THI).
GE Healthcare, a $17 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), is the world’s leading provider of ultrasound systems, information technologies and service solutions. Each year, healthcare providers rely on GE’s LOGIQ™, Vivid™ and Voluson™ ultrasound systems to perform tens of millions of patient exams worldwide. GE applies more than 25 years of experience and a commitment to advancing ultrasound’s role in patient care. For more information, visit GE Healthcare’s website at www.gehealthcare.com/ultrasound.
Tucson-based RCT manages the THI technology for its partner, the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. Seminal work in the early 1990s by P. Ted Christopher, Ph.D., at the University’s Center for Biomedical Ultrasound resulted in a new mode of ultrasound imaging that has become an essential part of diagnostic ultrasound today. Christopher’s invention showed that the second and higher-order harmonic response of native tissue to a propagated ultrasound beam could be employed to produce a sharper, higher-contrast image than that of the fundamental emitted frequency.
RCT received U.S. Patent No. 7,104,956, in September 2006; U.S. Patent No. 7,004,905 in February 2006; and U.S. Patent No. 6,206,833 in March 2001. Two other U.S. patents are pending.
GE joins Royal Philips Electronics and Acuson Corporation, a Siemens company, as a licensee of the tissue harmonic imaging technology. RCT continues its efforts to license the technology broadly to the ultrasound industry.
"We believe the success of our licensing program confirms the importance of these patents and the value of THI," said RCT President and CEO Shaun Kirkpatrick. "RCT looks forward to working with other manufacturers to grant nonexclusive access to this technology."
The Rochester Center for Biomedical Ultrasound (www.ece.rochester.edu/projects/rcbu) unites the University’s medical and engineering communities. Center researchers investigate use of very high-frequency sound waves in medical diagnosis and treatment, and other medical imaging applications.
Research Corporation Technologies (http://www.rctech.com) is a technology investment and management company that provides early-stage funding and development for promising biomedical companies and technologies from universities and research institutions worldwide. RCT carries on a vision of nearly 100 years that champions the commercialization of academic innovation. RCT has assets of more than $300 million to advance technology development through venture investment, partnerships and special licensing programs.
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