An electro cardiograph machine engineered in India by GE Healthcare promises to sharply reduce the cost to the patient of an ECG to less than Rs 10.

The instrument –MACi – is a battery operated, portable machine that is capable of printing in 3 channels at the same time - which means ECG can be printed line by line per page or 3 lines on one page. It is designed to complete 500 3-channel ECGs or 250 single channel ECGs for every 3 hour battery charge, which typically equals one month of operation in a village without electricity. It comes with the clinically proven Marquette 12SL analysis program. -- the same quality available in premium ECG devices . MACi is sold to physicians at Rs.25000, half the cost of GE’s earlier MAC 400 and is being made available at an EMI of Rs 27 a day for three years.
“We are launching new solutions which are low cost, simple and easy to use. They can potentially bridge the acute shortage of healthcare experts, healthcare insurance and electricity in rural India", says V Raja, President & CEO, GE Healthcare South Asia
"Measuring the electrical activity of the heart through an ECG is the very first step in checking a normal or cardiac patient. We see it as our mission and it is an integral part of our healthymagination initiative”, adds . R R Balaji, General Manager, Cardiology, GE Healthcare South Asia.
MAC i will be unveiled at the Cardiological Society of India Congress being held from December 2 - 5, 2009 at Kochi.

New initiatives in India
GE Healthcare has also launched the Indian expansion of its $1.5B Global Healthcare IT business. The new initiatives include the first “managed” Indian partnership with Diwan Chand Satyapal Aggarwal Imaging Research Centre, New Delhi with its Centricity PACS-IW tool . This in an Internet-based solution offering remote PC-based accessibility for radiologists to review images when they are away from the hospital, including 3D reconstruction “on the fly,” advanced image formatting and integrated reporting.

"We understand the limitations, Indian healthcare faces, with disparate clinics  and the paperwork barrier. We are committed to helping to change this", says GE Healthcare IT President and CEO Vishal Wanchoo. Adds  V Raja. “We still lack the infrastructure to enable more unified access across our rural and urban communities. We believe the unique "managed" business model will help transform the way healthcare is delivered in India."

GE Healthcare is a $17 billion unit of General Electric Company

Bangalore  Nov 25