GE HealthCare announced it had entered into an agreement to acquire French company IMACTIS, developer of computed tomography (CT) interventional guidance technology.

The deal marks the newly independent company's first acquisition. GE completed the spin-off of its healthcare unit last week. Financial details for the transaction weren't disclosed, but GE HealthCare said it plans to fund the acquisition with cash on hand. 

The IMACTIS CT-Navigation system provides stereotactic needle guidance, allowing for pre-planning and continuous control during minimally invasive procedures. It's received FDA 510(k) clearance, and the system is approved under the European Union’s Medical Devices Regulation.

Though the technology is currently focused on CT images, GE plans to expand the system with its larger image guided therapy (IGT) business.

"We’re thrilled to take this step in strengthening our interventional guidance offering for patients and customers," Jan Makela, president and CEO of imaging at GE HealthCare, said in a statement.

"The IMACTIS CT-Navigation system is designed to improve workflow for interventional radiologists and hospitals by increasing procedural accuracy, while helping to reduce procedure time and radiation dose for patients and physicians. It is an innovative navigation solution for image-guided percutaneous procedures that aims for better patient outcomes, by reducing variability for simple and complex procedures and improving reproducibility."

THE LARGER TREND

After the company completed its spinoff, GE HealthCare announced it had hired Dr. Taha Kass-Hout, formerly of Amazon Web Services, as the company's first chief technology officer. 

It also revealed preliminary fourth quarter and full year financial results. The newly independent company reported fourth quarter revenue of approximately $4.9 billion and full-year revenue of about $18.3 billion. GE HealthCare said revenue growth for 2022 was approximately 4% year-over-year. 

At the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, CEO Peter Arduini said one large focus is integrating artificial intelligence into its products. Mergers and acquisitions will also play "an important part for us over time."

He noted the IMACTIS deal was a good example of the company's M&A strategy, as it will provide a feature set that takes GE HealthCare into "a slightly new area while leveraging a core of our capabilities."