GE HealthCare Expands BARDA Ultrasound Deal; Wavelet Medical Advances AI Fetal EEG

GE HealthCare announced a $35 million expansion to an existing contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to develop AI-powered ultrasound solutions, while Wavelet Medical disclosed a partnership with Aegis Ventures to advance its AI-powered fetal EEG monitoring platform.

GE HealthCare initially entered into a collaboration with BARDA, part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in October 2023. The expansion is structured as a cost-share, with BARDA agreeing to provide the majority of the $35 million in funding. The expanded scope aims to facilitate the development of several new AI-powered tools for trauma assessment and preparedness for mass casualty incidents. GE HealthCare and BARDA hope to enhance diagnostic speed and reduce operator dependency, even for non-expert ultrasound users. New automated capabilities could support more detailed assessments of lung pathologies, including pleural pathologies, and improve the detection of intra-abdominal injuries. GE HealthCare also plans to create point-of-care ultrasound solutions to improve reliability and usability in demanding environments. The company has experience in this area, launching the Venue enhanced point-of-care ultrasound system in 2024. Other aims of the partnership include new clinician engagement, along with medical evaluation sites, to generate clinical evidence and ensure that real-world feedback shapes the technology.

"Responding to a mass casualty incident demands speed, precision and access to care, especially in high-pressure environments like emergency departments, field hospitals, and medical transpor," said the president and CEO of Advanced Visualization Solutions at GE HealthCare. "Our strategic alignment with BARDA enables us to continue to drive ultrasound innovation through advanced AI tools and specialized hardware designed for the front lines of care." The CEO of Comprehensive Care Ultrasound at GE HealthCare added: "GE HealthCare has long been at the forefront of ultrasound innovation in emergency medicine, especially at the point-of-care. This milestone reflects our shared aspiration to equip clinicians with tools that enhance decision-making and help improve patient outcomes in even the most challenging scenarios."

Separately, Wavelet Medical announced a partnership with Aegis Ventures, a venture studio specializing in health tech, to co-create and scale the first non-invasive, AI-powered fetal electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring platform. The technology was developed at Yale and aims to detect fetal brain distress in real time and prevent avoidable brain injury at birth. According to Wavelet, it aims to fill gaps created by reliance on fetal heart rate monitoring, which fails to directly measure neurological function and can often miss cases of hypoxia that lead to lifelong disability and unnecessary C-sections driven by false positives. Wavelet uses non-invasive EEG captured through the mother's abdomen and reconstructed with proprietary AI algorithms developed by the company's head of science. This technology identifies auditory-evoked brain responses that signal neurological distress without invasive scalp electrodes or added risk to the mother or baby. "Until recently, noninvasive fetal EEG from the maternal abdomen was not feasible; we are now harnessing AI to reconstruct fetal EEG and translate it into quantitative markers of fetal distress," said the head of science. The company currently has the technology under evaluation at three clinical sites, with plans for expanded trials. "This is the moment breakthrough science becomes scalable impact," said Wavelet's CEO. "Aegis brings the ecosystem, experience, and capital needed to accelerate product development, clinical adoption, and commercialization. Together, we have a real opportunity to redefine what 'standard of care' means in fetal medicine – and to save lives."