Halifax Biomedical Inc. has struck a partnership with GE Healthcare under which HBI can market its sophisticated imaging products to GE customers.

HBI, which is based in Mabou, Cape Breton, issued a statement this week saying that it had agreed to collaborate with the medical equipment unit of General Electric. GE Healthcare is one of the world’s biggest medical equipment companies, reporting revenues last year of US$18.3 billion, and one of its main businesses is medical imaging equipment.

HBI produces X-ray equipment that can produce images from two different angles simultaneously. They give a surgeon or other medical practitioner a three-dimensional view of a joint or spinal column. HBI focuses on two clinical problems: early detection of implant loosening for hip and knee joint replacements; and assessing the spinal column in patients with chronic low back pain.

“GE Healthcare is committed to innovation in medical imaging,” said Michelle Edler, President & CEO of Global X-ray at GE Healthcare. “We are pleased our collaboration with Halifax Biomedical will make this advanced imaging technology available to our orthopedic imaging customers.”

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Under their joint development agreement, HBI and GE have created an upgrade for HBI equipment used by existing GE customers. This upgrade integrates seamlessly into GE x-ray imaging rooms by leveraging Halifax Biomedical’s L-arm imaging stand equipped with GE flashpad imaging detector technology.

The combined technology is expected to provide 3D Stereo Orthopedic Radiography measurements while the patient is either standing or lying down with a precision approximately 20 times better than conventional CT scanners. The combined solution is intended to enable such applications as early detection of loose or unstable total joint replacement implants.

“GE Healthcare is a global leader in medical imaging and we look forward to leveraging the results of our collaboration to assist orthopedic surgeons and their patients,” said HBI Chief Executive Chad Munro in the statement. “The upgrade approach we have developed provides an easy way for GE Healthcare customers to obtain advanced Halifax stereo x-ray imaging capability without major changes to their imaging rooms or workflow.”

The development of the Halifax upgrade solution for GE imaging systems is complete. Regulatory approvals are now under way with initial product launches in North America, Europe and Australia expected in early 2018.