Royal Philips Electronics (PHG, AEX: PHI) today announced its response to an industry need by showing its portfolio of products designed to manage dose radiation at this year's 95th annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago. New this year from Philips are several advancements and upgrades focused on redefining imaging, managing dose radiation and streamlining workflow to expand upon clinical capabilities. Philips will also showcase the company's financing solutions for customers exploring radiology investments.
Advancements in medical imaging are continuously opening new doors in early diagnosis and disease management. Despite the progress of this technology, both the radiology and patient communities have concerns regarding the potential risks of radiation dose. As healthcare guidelines continue to shift and more intense focus is directed to dose radiation risk and reduction, it is increasingly important radiologists have access to imaging systems that may limit exposure while upholding image quality and ease of use.
"Hospitals are under intense pressure to deliver high-quality care while lowering costs and exceeding standards for patient safety," said Gene Saragnese, CEO, Imaging Systems, Philips Healthcare. "Philips is dedicated to supporting our customers with systems that drive value and technologies that help enable a reduction of radiation dose to patients and hospital staff, while maintaining exceptional image quality to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of patients."
New solutions to redefine imaging and manage dose for patients and clinicians, alike
iDose for Philips CT
Philips is unveiling a new X-ray dose reduction technique, iDose. The newest addition to Philips' DoseWise suite of radiation management tools, iDose focuses on lowering X-ray dose while maintaining high image quality and fast reconstruction times. The iDose reconstruction technique, RapidView IR console, enables 20 times faster reconstruction than current hardware and lowers X-ray dose up to 80 percent while maintaining diagnostic image quality. As an ongoing commitment to streamlining workflow for radiologists, iDose was designed to provide the same look and feel of the original, higher-dose radiation images, so there's no additional training needed. iDose is available for new and installed base Brilliance iCT and 64-channel scanners with expected delivery in the second half of 2010.
DoseAware
For interventional radiologists, Philips will introduce DoseAware, the latest addition to Philips' DoseWise portfolio of solutions to help track X-ray exposure of patients and staff. DoseAware delivers real-time visualization, display and tracking of clinical staff X-ray dose to help healthcare professionals performing potentially lengthy interventional procedures manage their radiation exposure on the spot.
EasyDiagnost Eleva
A single fluoroscopy room is not cost-effective in today's environment with a shift of exams to other modalities. The combination of Philips' high-end digital vertical stand (or digital in-table detector) and the EasyDiagnost Eleva with ceiling suspension manages both high-quality digital radiography as well as fluoroscopy (DRF) applications, enabling users to perform gastro-intestinal work, as well as chest and skeletal exams, in just one room.
In addition, the DRF design consists of various single features to help enable lower X-ray doses to be delivered, including pediatric fluoroscopy settings, Grid Controlled Fluoroscopy and dose measurement. This is especially relevant in the pediatric setting. The Eleva is easy to operate, fast and offers the ability to customize protocols and techniques for individual physician preferences. Based on open standards, the EasyDiagnost Eleva can seamlessly integrate into any hospital network.
GEMINI TF PET/CT
Showcasing Philips' newest innovation in oncology care, the Philips GEMINI TF PET/CT streamlines the processes involved in staging, planning, therapy and follow-up in oncology care. With Generation 3 Time-of-Flight technology, the GEMINI TF system is the company's fastest ever PET scanner, capturing data in less than 500 picoseconds, without compromising image quality or attention to dose radiation efficiency.