No Chips, No Cure: Why Semiconductors Are the Invisible Infrastructure of Modern Healthcare
Abstract:
Every CT scan, MRI exam, and image-guided surgery performed today depends on a supply chain that most patients and even many healthcare executives never see: the semiconductors, including memory components, that power the imaging systems upon which clinicians rely.
This presentation introduces GE HealthCare and its Advanced Imaging Solutions business, which designs and delivers the connected CT, MR, PET/SPECT, CathLab and surgical C-arm, and ultrasound platforms used in hospitals and clinics worldwide, and examines the semiconductor foundation beneath these life critical technologies.
While the annual volumes of compute and memory that medical imaging consumes are modest compared to smartphones, PCs, or hyperscale data centers, their importance to patients is profound: without semiconductors, manufacturers cannot deliver the new imaging systems hospitals rely on to expand access to screening, diagnosis, therapy planning, image-guided intervention, and other critical clinical services. This talk will make the case that medical imaging deserves to be understood not as a niche semiconductor customer, but as a critical infrastructure sector whose supply security has public health consequences.
As global fabrication and packaging capacity increasingly tilts toward AI and data center buildouts, legacy computing and memory nodes (the very components healthcare equipment has long depended on) are becoming harder to secure. In response, medical device makers are forced to rethink how imaging systems are architected. This talk will explore what that transition means for imaging system design, deeper collaboration between the semiconductor and healthcare industries, and ensuring the technologies that help care for people and save lives remain prioritized.
Biography:
Marc Schaepkens is Chief Technology Officer, Advanced Imaging Solutions (AIS) at GE HealthCare. He leads technology strategy for the business, advancing platform integration and accelerating progress across imaging modalities, delivering more connected, end-to-end solutions for healthcare providers.
Marc brings over 16 years of leadership experience at GE HealthCare. Before his current role, he served as Chief Technology Officer for MICT (Molecular Imaging & Computed Tomography) & Imaging Sub-Systems, where he led advancements in imaging hardware and platform capabilities. Earlier still, he held senior executive roles in supply chain for MICT & Imaging Sub-Systems, contributing to operational excellence and technology integration across the business.
Before joining GE HealthCare, Marc held global leadership roles in engineering and R&D at GE Advanced Materials (later Momentive Performance Materials), and began his career at GE's Global Research Center following early experience at Philips Mobile Display Systems.
He holds a PhD in Physics from the University at Albany, New York, and a Master's degree in Engineering Physics/Applied Physics from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. He is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt and is listed as an inventor on more than 40 issued patents spanning imaging systems and materials science. Marc is known for pairing systematic rigor with creative problem-solving, driving both incremental and breakthrough improvement.