The new joint company, called Omnyx LLC, will bring to market digital solutions to shape a new age of patient care to a science that has relied on glass slides and microscopes for more than 125 years.

Omnyx’s digital platform will enable clinicians to share images virtually, interpret results using advanced algorithms and reduce costs associated with diagnosis. The benefit to patients could include a reduction in medical errors, improved turnaround time for lab results and integrating pathology information as part of a patient’s electronic medical record.

Part of a broader GE initiative to foster innovation, Omnyx is the first standalone company in GE’s history to be formed with an academic medical center, representing an untapped outlet for accelerating ideas to market, according to the company.

“This new company will revolutionize patient care and expand GE vision for Early Health — the ability to diagnose disease at the earliest possible stage, which in turn can lead to more effective treatment and monitoring,” said Gene Cartwright CEO of Omnyx and a 26-year healthcare veteran. “Digitizing pathology will allow Omnyx to provide doctors with better tools for the full care continuum, enhancing their decision-making capabilities in key disease areas.”

The idea of digital pathology took shape when GE researchers developed a prototype that overcame what appeared to be insurmountable barriers for a mainstream product: image quality and speed of scanning slides.

Building on early developments in GE’s Global Research Center, Omnyx will unite UPMC’s pioneering developments in digital pathology and GE’s portfolio technology, including advanced optics, image capture algorithms and next-generation imaging platforms, to create a viable solution for high-volume clinical use.

“Digital pathology provides a platform for the creation of new tools that will help pathologists screen large numbers of slides in search of a small nest of cells or a few bacteria to quickly and accurately diagnose disease,” said George K. Michalopoulos, professor and chairman of the Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh.

This innovative collaboration with GE will help to address the critical cost and quality issues facing healthcare today, said Jeffrey Romoff, president and CEO of UPMC.

“The formation of Omnyx underscores UPMC’s strategy of leveraging its medical, technology and research expertise to create solutions that benefit patients worldwide,” he pointed out. “At the same time, this new Pittsburgh-based company will contribute to the continuing revitalization of the economy of Western Pennsylvania.”

Omnyx will operate as an independent company, with financial support from both GE and UPMC.

Omnyx will be located at a new headquarters in Pittsburgh, with additional offices in Piscataway, N.J., and other GE Healthcare facilities.

The commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided Omnyx with $180,000 to support the creation of at least 40 high-tech jobs within the company during the next three years.

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