GE Healthcare has announced that it is to expand its Healthcare IT Center of Excellence in Szeged, Hungary. At an event attended by the vice-rector of the University of Szeged, Professor Lajos Kemény, and deputy Mayor of Szeged, Mr Sándor Nagy, the company outlined its plans to double the number of software engineers employed at the Centre of Excellence from 20 to 40.

The expanded team will help advance the development of innovative software solutions for use in healthcare, including those that support the diagnosis of life-threatening diseases such as liver cancer and other disorders. The engineers at Szeged will also play a key role in the development of Predix, a new software platform developed by GE specifically to connect people, data and machines over the Industrial Internet, which offers the potential to help reduce costs and increase efficiency in healthcare.

The further investment in the GE Healthcare IT Center of Excellence in Szeged builds on the company's long-standing and high-level collaboration with the medical and academic teams at the University of Szeged and will also forge links with GE IT development teams in a number of locations including Budapest, Hungary and in San Ramon, California, USA.

Mr Tamás Vámos, MD, GE Healthcare, Hungary said, "Software has enormous potential to address some of the world's biggest challenges in healthcare. Our investment in the team in Szeged is a great milestone and demonstrates our commitment to innovation and excellence in healthcare IT. In Hungary, we have established outstanding teams of software engineers; today, one in four patients worldwide is diagnosed using imaging software that was developed by our teams here. The expansion of the team in Szeged will enable us to accelerate our work."

The collaboration between GE Healthcare and the University of Szeged has already led to the development of a new imaging technology platform for the imaging of liver disease. Showcased at the Radiological Society of North America's 2014 meeting, the industry's annual show which attracts radiologists from all over the world - Hepatic VCAR is post-processing CT analysis software designed to assist clinicians with the segmentation and assessment of liver morphology and liver lesions, as well as their changes over time.

Mr Attila Ferik, director, Software Platform Engineering at GE Healthcare, said, "GE Healthcare's vision is to develop technologies and solutions that help healthcare providers reduce their costs while improving the quality of care for their patients. I'm delighted that we are announcing this expansion to our outstanding team of specialists in Hungary who will be working with our IT development teams worldwide in the development of our industrial internet medical platform. Our collaboration with the respected institution of the University of Szeged has a strong track-record of delivery, which reflects on its outstanding quality of academic expertise. It's fantastic that we're working together for a healthier Hungary and a healthier world."