News

GE HealthCare's 'Pristina Via' Breast Imaging System Streamlines Workflows and Enhances Patient Experience

• By John K. Waters
• 11/26/2024

GE HealthCare introduced the Pristina Via mammography system at the recent Radiological Society of North America’s (RSNA) Annual Meeting. Debuted amid a global shortage of technologists and a rising demand for mammograms, the new system was designed to streamline workflows and enhance the patient experience.

The Pristina Via system addresses mounting pressures faced by mammography technologists, who grapple with increasing workloads and higher diagnostic demands. According to the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, vacancy rates among technologists have tripled in three years, now standing at 18%. Against this backdrop, Pristina Via offers a suite of advanced features, including automated processes, zero-click acquisition functionality, and vendor-neutral prior image comparison, designed to enable a faster, more efficient workflow.

"Pristina Via is our answer to the challenge of balancing speed with care," said Pooja Pathak, Vice President and General Manager for Global Mammography at GE HealthCare, in a statement. "Through automation and user-focused design, we’re empowering technologists to deliver the attentive, compassionate care every patient deserves."

The Pristina Via boasts groundbreaking capabilities, such as no wait time between exposures and double the image-to-image cycle speed of competing systems. Additionally, the system uses the lowest radiation dose across all breast thicknesses among leading mammography technologies.

GE HealthCare designed Pristina Via through extensive collaboration with mammography technologists, the company says, conducting nearly 250 interviews and observations to tailor the system to their needs. These insights informed innovations that minimize repetitive tasks, enabling technologists to focus on patient care rather than process.

"During our intensive collaboration with our end users in the design phase, we heard time and again that the technologist’s workday can feel like a race against the clock,” Pathak said. "[The Pristina Via system's] advanced features were engineered to automate processes and allow our users to give patients the attentive, quality care they deserve."

The Pristina Via continues GE HealthCare’s tradition of patient-first design, building on its Senographe Pristina platform, which was "designed by women for women." The system emphasizes patient comfort, aiming to make breast cancer screenings a less daunting experience while improving access to quality diagnostics.

"With the new in-room workflow, Pristina Via minimizes laborious tasks and provides technologists with the gift of time to prioritize what matters most: compassionate, patient-centered care," said Jyoti Gupta, president and CEO of Women’s Health and X-ray at GE HealthCare, in a statement.

The system’s scalable platform was designed to ensure imaging centers can adapt to evolving diagnostic needs. Offering backward compatibility, it allows facilities to upgrade capabilities without significant infrastructure changes, enhancing operational longevity.

"Improving in-room workflows not only helps technologists but also drives patient compliance,” said John Simon, CEO of SimonMed, one of the nation’s largest outpatient imaging providers and an early adopter of Pristina Via, in a statement. "By investing in technology like this, we’re advancing our mission of improving access to state-of-the-art breast cancer screening services."