(Yicai Global) Nov. 8 -- The UK’s GE Healthcare Systems, Germany’s Siemens Healthineers and Sweden’s Elekta were among a number of medical imaging equipment makers from around the globe who brought their latest, ground-breaking products to this year’s China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

“Positron Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography imaging devices are a very important tool for doctors to diagnose tumors,” Wang Hao, president of Siemens Healthineers China, told Yicai Global. "Previous products have had two main limitations, namely that the imaging was slow and the images were not so clear. Our ultra-high-end product can do a whole-body PET-CT examination and diagnosis in just 15 seconds," he said.

GE Healthcare debuted a PET/CT solution for the early screening of Alzheimer’s disease. Approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, it can effectively identify patients with early Alzheimer’s, and those with early cognitive decline who have not yet developed Alzheimer’s, thus enabling early diagnosis and timely treatment.

“These high-end precision diagnostic and treatment tools help advance the prevention and cure of major diseases, thereby improving medical data management and clinical decision-making,” said Dai Ying, vice president and chief innovation officer of GE Healthcare China.

Accurate diagnosis is a crucial part of the radiotherapy process for cancer patients, Liu Jianbin, vice president and marketing director of Elekta’s China division, told Yicai Global. Doctors need to find the specific location of the lesion to give patients a better treatment plan and they require better tools to eliminate it.

Little Chalfont-based GE Healthcare also showcased a cardiac ultrasound detection product that can provide accurate images of the location and extent of heart disease in order to guide valve interventional surgery more accurately.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor