GEC Medical
Encyclopedia
GEC Medical was a unit of the General Electric Company that was headquartered in what was known as East Lane Industrial Estate in North Wembley
, behind the Hirst Research Centre
which fronted East Lane.
The East Lane Industrial Estate boasted a triangular illuminated rotating sign of the same design as the one at Scotland Yard
, but translucent and coloured bright yellow. The company was known as Watson & Son (X-Ray) Ltd. until the merger in 1954 with A. E. Dean and Co. of Croydon. Watson and Sons had originally manufactured microscopes and other optical instruments, but in the late 19th century had seen the opportunity of making X-Ray equipment. They became part of GEC in the very early part of the 20th Century.
The main business of the merged GEC Medical was the manufacture of X-Ray equipment, including X-Ray
tubes which were made under licence from a US company called Machlett Laboratories
. Other products were the high voltage supplies needed for X-Ray tubes, the tables for positioning patients and many other accessories besides. It also employed a fairly large number of people supplying spare parts and servicing the pieces of equipment that were sold by the company. In the late 1980s the company introduced the concept of using a higher than mains frequency in an X-Ray power supply. One of the last products made by the company before it closed was a mammography
unit. Until closure GEC Medical had around 40% of the UK market for medical imaging devices.
(MRI) using resistive magnet technology. At the same time, EMI
Medical who had introduced the CT Scanner some time before using the principle of Godfrey Hounsfield
, for which he won the 1979 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine
, were developing MRI using cryogenic magnets - which gave a higher field strength. At the time the maximum field strength with a resistive magnet was about 0.1T. With a cryogenic magnet, 1.0 T was easily achieved. EMI Medical went bankrupt at around this time so their interests in MRI were bought by GEC. This was a major impetus for GEC's acquisition of Picker Corporation in 1981.
The merged company as Picker International had the first MRI scanner approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the US market. However business in the following decade did not suit them, and despite winning an order for air-droppable X-Ray units for the US Army, they closed the factory at Wembley in 1990, along with other sites in Canada
and Germany
.
North Wembley
North Wembley is a district of North-West London, England. It is located in the London Borough of Brent, and is the location of the Sudbury Court Estate.-Nearby Places:*Wembley Park*South Kenton*Wembley*Kenton*Sudbury*Harrow-Stations:...
, behind the Hirst Research Centre
Hirst Research Centre
GEC Hirst Research Centre was one of the first specialised industrial research laboratories to be built in Britain, and was part of the General Electric Company plc empire...
which fronted East Lane.
The East Lane Industrial Estate boasted a triangular illuminated rotating sign of the same design as the one at Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
, but translucent and coloured bright yellow. The company was known as Watson & Son (X-Ray) Ltd. until the merger in 1954 with A. E. Dean and Co. of Croydon. Watson and Sons had originally manufactured microscopes and other optical instruments, but in the late 19th century had seen the opportunity of making X-Ray equipment. They became part of GEC in the very early part of the 20th Century.
The main business of the merged GEC Medical was the manufacture of X-Ray equipment, including X-Ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
tubes which were made under licence from a US company called Machlett Laboratories
Machlett Laboratories
The company began as E. Machlett and Son which was founded in 1897 in New York, United States as scientific glass makers.-Early days:Machlett Laboratories was created from E. Machlett & Sons in order to exploit the then new technology of X-Rays. They would make X-Ray tubes from the beginning to...
. Other products were the high voltage supplies needed for X-Ray tubes, the tables for positioning patients and many other accessories besides. It also employed a fairly large number of people supplying spare parts and servicing the pieces of equipment that were sold by the company. In the late 1980s the company introduced the concept of using a higher than mains frequency in an X-Ray power supply. One of the last products made by the company before it closed was a mammography
Mammography
Mammography is the process of using low-energy-X-rays to examine the human breast and is used as a diagnostic and a screening tool....
unit. Until closure GEC Medical had around 40% of the UK market for medical imaging devices.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
GEC also funded some of the development of Magnetic Resonance ImagingMagnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance imaging , or magnetic resonance tomography is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize detailed internal structures...
(MRI) using resistive magnet technology. At the same time, EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
Medical who had introduced the CT Scanner some time before using the principle of Godfrey Hounsfield
Godfrey Hounsfield
Sir Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield CBE, FRS, was an English electrical engineer who shared the 1979 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Allan McLeod Cormack for his part in developing the diagnostic technique of X-ray computed tomography .His name is immortalised in the Hounsfield scale, a...
, for which he won the 1979 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
, were developing MRI using cryogenic magnets - which gave a higher field strength. At the time the maximum field strength with a resistive magnet was about 0.1T. With a cryogenic magnet, 1.0 T was easily achieved. EMI Medical went bankrupt at around this time so their interests in MRI were bought by GEC. This was a major impetus for GEC's acquisition of Picker Corporation in 1981.
The merged company as Picker International had the first MRI scanner approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the US market. However business in the following decade did not suit them, and despite winning an order for air-droppable X-Ray units for the US Army, they closed the factory at Wembley in 1990, along with other sites in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.