BY SEAN WHOOLEY

Caption Guidance on the Venue Go system in use. [Image courtesy of GE HealthCare]

GE HealthCare (Nasdaq: GEHC)+ announced today that it launched its Venue point-of-care ultrasound systems with AI-driven Caption Guidance.
Chicago-based GE HealthCare says the Venue family is the first of its ultrasound guidance to include Caption Guidance. The company added the AI-driven imaging guidance to its arsenal when it acquired Caption Health earlier this year.
Caption Guidance, an optional add-on, offers new capabilities at the point of care with diagnostic-quality cardiac images. It supports clinicians in a wide range of clinical settings, like emergency departments, critical care wards and anesthesiology.
GE HealthCare says the Caption Guidance technology offers clinicians step-by-step instructions to acquire ultrasound for cardiac assessments. It helps providers — even those who aren’t ultrasound experts — by addressing training and skill barriers to ultrasound usage. This, in turn, expands ultrasound access.
According to a news release, this can potentially enable early detection of signs of heart disease in at-risk patients. Ultimately, it may help to improve clinical outcomes with early intervention, slowing disease progression and potentially preventing hospitalizations.
“Venue family ultrasound systems support clinical decision-making at the point of care, including the emergency department, offering simple, fast and precise solutions. With the integration of Caption Guidance AI-driven software, these devices can enhance cardiac care and reduce the burden on sonographers and radiology departments by giving more clinicians the ability to perform scans and triage patients,” said Dietmar Seifriedsberger, global GM, point of care and handheld ultrasound at GE HealthCare. “The AI software is expected to increase the number of clinicians who can successfully and confidently conduct cardiac ultrasound scans, which is especially useful in emergency or critical care settings where demand is high and accuracy is essential.”
More about the GE HealthCare Caption Guidance technology
GE HealthCare now offers Caption Guidance on its Venue point-of-care ultrasound systems in the U.S. It plans to integrate the AI technology into other ultrasound systems, including handheld ones. The company aims to help further expand access to diagnostic care and the use of ultrasound in a variety of care settings.
Caption Guidance falls within the Verisound suite of technologies formerly known as GE HealthCare’s Ultrasound Digital Solutions. Verisound, a new brand, brings together the company’s existing ultrasound AI and digital workflow solutions as a unified platform.
The company plans to debut the Venue family with Caption Guidance next week in Philadelphia. It will also unveil the Verisound brand, all at the ACEP Assembly. It also plans to showcase its new Vscan AIR SL, the handheld ultrasound technology it launched in August.
“We recognize the potential of Caption Health AI in revolutionizing ultrasound access and have worked quickly to deliver on integrating this promising technology to improve patient care,” said Karley Yoder, chief digital officer, ultrasound at GE HealthCare. “Within a few months of the Caption Health acquisition, we have successfully launched Caption Guidance as a powerful new guidance tool on our Venue Family ultrasound systems, enabling efficient and confident use of ultrasound at the point of care and strengthening our integrated products and solutions.
“We remain committed to making an impact with this technology and plan to expand its use to maternal, fetal, and pulmonary diseases.”