“The key words of global healthcare industry are currently ‘digital’, ‘convergence’, and ‘patient communications’. Korea, which already has great strengths in IT services, is one of the countries with a potential to lead the global healthcare trends.”

Eric Stahre, CEO of GE’s MR business, who I met at the GE Institute in Waukesha, a one-hour drive from Milwaukee, said, “In regards to global strategy, we are paying close attention to Korea’s IT technologies,” adding, “We see the opportunity to work closely with Korean companies that own innovative technologies and can align the business strategies with those of GE.”

He further explained, “We look forward to R&D investment partnerships with Korean companies that are playing in the bio and medical device sectors such as mobile healthcare.”

The MR business of GE Healthcare is responsible for developing the next generation technologies at the company. MRI technologies, which are known to be among the most effective technologies for diagnosing cancer, as well as convergent technologies with PET are developed in this department.

When I asked about the differences in CTs, MRIs, and PETs, he said, “With CT, you can see state borders and lakes. With MR, you can see the topography, such as mountains and plains. With PET, you can see the weather,” adding, “The images produced by combining PET and MR are spectacular."

"We will look for further investment opportunities in Korea"
In reply to the question of introducing the next generation technologies, he said, “GE Healthcare is working on developing MR scanners that require less liquid helium, which is used to supercool the magnets in the machines. And the company is also in the final stages of developing an MR scanner designed for neonatal intensive care units.”

Reporter=Lee jun hyeok, rainbow@hankyung.com