State Trading Organization (STO) Healthcare has introduced GE HealthCare’s Vscan portable ultrasound series to the Maldivian market, expanding access to diagnostic imaging that can be carried out directly at a patient’s bedside and outside conventional scanning rooms.
The new devices were officially unveiled at a ceremony held at Hotel Jen, with STO Managing Director and CEO Shimad Ibrahim and GE HealthCare South Asia Sales Head Jagdish Babu launching the equipment.
STO said the portable technology could be particularly valuable in the Maldives, where the dispersed geography of the islands can make access to specialised diagnostic equipment more challenging outside major population centres.
Unlike conventional ultrasound machines that are generally installed in dedicated clinical spaces, the Vscan series is designed for point-of-care ultrasound, allowing healthcare professionals to perform scans closer to patients when clinically required. Its compact design also makes the technology easier to deploy in smaller healthcare facilities.
The devices can connect with Apple and Android smartphones as well as laptops, while ultrasound images can be transferred and shared using DICOM-compatible formats commonly used by healthcare institutions for medical imaging.
STO said these capabilities could help broaden access to diagnostic services across smaller islands, allowing healthcare providers greater flexibility in carrying out examinations without relying solely on traditional ultrasound facilities.
The introduction of the Vscan series comes through STO’s partnership with GE HealthCare, for which the state-owned company serves as the authorised distributor in the Maldives. GE medical equipment is already used across a number of healthcare facilities in the country, including imaging systems used by radiology departments.
Alongside supplying medical equipment, STO said it has invested in building local technical expertise to provide maintenance and after-sales support for GE HealthCare systems.
Its biomedical engineering team includes engineers trained specifically for different GE equipment categories, including MRI, CT, mammography and ultrasound systems. STO also highlighted the presence of certified Maldivian female engineers within its technical team.
Reliable technical support is particularly important for sophisticated medical equipment in the Maldives, where sending equipment overseas for repairs or waiting for foreign specialists can result in longer service disruptions.
STO said the introduction of the latest portable ultrasound technology forms part of its wider efforts to bring modern medical equipment to the country and strengthen the services available to healthcare providers.