Philips unveils two medical imaging machines

The 99th annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) opened at the McCormick Place, Chicago in the United States of America (USA), drawing a large number of radiologists, medical physicists and other medical professionals from various parts of the world.

Highlights of the five-day programme, being attended by over 55,000 people, are the exhibition of a wide range of latest discoveries, techniques and innovations in technological equipment in medical imaging, unveiling of new innovations aimed at promoting healthcare and presentations on healthcare.

The booth of Philips Healthcare, a major manufacturer of CT scan and other medical imaging equipment, saw the unveiling of two innovations in medical imaging which, according to the organisation, signals a new era in radiology.

These are Philips' Vereos digital PET/CT ultrasound and interventional X-ray imaging system and IQon Spectral CT system, which are designed to drive clinical performance, enhance quality healthcare and improve patient care.

Also on display is the Philips MR Ingenia that brings ultra sound scan signal digitisation for better consistent image quality.

Philips Healthcare operates in four main business areas; imaging systems, patients care and clinical informatics, home healthcare solutions and customer services.

Making a presentation earlier in the day at a press briefing at the Hyatt Regency, the Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Imaging Systems, Philips Healthcare, Mr Gene Saragness, said medical imaging played a significant role in healthcare, since it helped doctors to make definite diagnosis and offered a better solution to medical conditions.

He said emphasis on medical imaging was a positive step to attaining a dramatic change in healthcare.

In his presentation, the Chairman of the Department of Radiology, University Hospitals Case Medical Centre in Cleveland, Professor Dr Pablo Ros, said the centre and Philips Healthcare were major collaborators in promoting medical imaging.

According to him, the centre performs nearly 600 million medical examinations. He also stressed that "the earlier you diagnose a disease, the better chance you stand at providing medical care."

He said the digital PET/CT equipment provided a step-by-step resolution and clearer images and added that the use of medical imaging in radiology was an absolute revolutionary way in diagnosing and treating cancers, especially in examining women for breast cancer through mammogram, which is an x-ray of the breast.