GE Healthcare this week announced new applications and smart devices built on Edison – a platform that helps accelerate the development and adoption of artificial intelligence and empower providers to deliver faster, more precise care. Edison is part of GE Healthcare’s $1 billion and growing Digital portfolio and will serve as a “digital thread” for its existing AI partnerships and products. GE clarified in an official statement that the clinical partners will use Edison to develop algorithms, and technology partners will work with GE Healthcare to bring the latest advancements in data processing to Edison applications and smart devices.

“People see smart computers all around them – Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Tesla’s self-driving car – and they think healthcare should be the same. Obviously, healthcare is far more complex, requires much higher accuracy, and has less margin for error,” said Dr Michael Blum, Associate Vice Chancellor for Informatics, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), speaking on the topic ahead of last year’s Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual conference.

Edison, a nod to @GeneralElectric’s founder and the inventor, is helping #clinicians improve scan consistency, prioritize acute cases, and extend device lifecycle #AI #digitalhealth https://t.co/eEl8h2y60F#RSNA18 pic.twitter.com/zHcYS2CSPo

— GE Healthcare (@GEHealthcare) November 25, 2018

Edison offers a cutting-edge service that allows data to be traced during the development of an algorithm. This tool, which reflects GE Healthcare’s commitment to safe, ethical and effective use of AI, could boost clinicians’ trust in the technology and radically simplify a developer’s ability to create compliant AI applications. The AI capabilities are just one of the more than 100 Edison services available to GE Healthcare and ultimately third-party developers. Other services include security, visualization, utilization management and auto-protocoling.

For hospital executives, the Edison platform allows GE Healthcare to add continuous value to its millions of installed medical devices with smart workflows. Clinicians who use Edison applications, which were built using Edison services, can be assured by the fact that algorithms were developed with and validated by a best-in-class ecosystem of clinical and technology partners. Developers who use Edison will benefit from a common integrated platform that brings together globally diverse data from across modalities, vendors and care settings.

GE Healthcare says it ultimately plans to open the platform and 100+ services to more developers and partners, which could accelerate both the development and adoption of AI technology.

Newly revealed apps and smart devices built on “Edison” show why integrating data from millions of systems and devices is the real changemaker #EdisonPlatform #DigitalHealth https://t.co/eEl8h2PGSd #RSNA18 pic.twitter.com/h2yRWOJ8LY

— GE Healthcare (@GEHealthcare) November 26, 2018