Healthcare Industry News:  Philips Healthcare 

Devices Oncology

 News Release - September 22, 2008

Philips Showcases Comprehensive, Integrated Oncology Suite at ASTRO

Image and Information Based Therapy Management, and Multi-Disciplinary Solutions Simplify Oncology Care for Patients and Doctors

BOSTON--(HSMN NewsFeed)--Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG ) (AEX:PHI) is displaying its breadth of oncology care solutions at this year’s American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) annual meeting, currently taking place in Boston. Philips’ solutions offer a comprehensive way to address patient and caregiver needs, by allowing functional feedback on therapy progression. From diagnosis and staging through treatment planning, delivery and follow-up, Philips offers an integrated suite of oncology solutions across multiple modalities to advance oncology care for both patients and clinicians.


“As the baby boomer population continues to grow, we have seen an increase in cancer in this aging demographic, primarily colorectal, prostate, breast and lung cancers,” said Jay Mazelsky, general manager, Nuclear Medicine, for Philips Healthcare. “Leveraging deep clinical expertise and customer insights, Philips is building a suite of dedicated product solutions for therapeutic oncology, including an imaging and therapeutic planning toolkit for cancer centers. This strategy, as demonstrated by the suite of Philips’ oncology offerings on display at ASTRO, is designed to complement and enhance the exciting new clinical technology in radiation therapy.”

As part of this comprehensive approach, Philips is the only company at ASTRO showing three systems for oncology imaging, MR, CT, and PET/CT, to provide integrated solutions for accurate tumor diagnosis and staging, therapy planning and therapy response monitoring. Philips is expanding its presence in oncology with a comprehensive suite that offers a full range of options for physicians and clinicians to target various cancers and improve care for patients. Key product offerings highlighted at ASTRO include:

Brilliance CT Big Bore Oncology Configuration

Philips Brilliance CT Big Bore Oncology Configuration is designed specifically for the radiation oncology department and provides image quality, accuracy and workflow efficiency, while facilitating shorter exam times for patients. The 85cm bore allows for flexible treatment setups and the comprehensive motion management tools improve confidence in treatment volume assessment. The system features an intuitive workflow environment and provides flexibility and ease of use. In addition, Tumor LOC and motion management tools are now available on the Brilliance Workspace.

GEMINI - introducing 4D Time of Flight on PET/CT & PET/CT Big Bore

New on the GEMINI TF PET/CT and GEMINI TF PET/CT Big Bore is Philips 4D time-of-flight technology, a toolkit to better manage respiratory motion by offering comprehensive tools for combined CT, PET and PET/CT correlated imaging.

The new Philips GEMINI TF Big Bore is the first commercial Big Bore PET/CT, with a full 85 cm bore diameter for both PET and CT scans. The system combines Philips time-of-flight PET imaging technologies with its Brilliance CT Big Bore simulation to optimize oncology workflow, accuracy, and patient experience. The GEMINI TF PET/CT Big Bore system is designed to meet the unique requirements of radiation oncology applications, providing improved planning in cases that call for patients to be in extended positions, such as with treatments of breast and colorectal cancers. The system allows patients to be positioned for simulation in the same manner as they would to receive therapy.

Investigating new technology with Traxtal PercuNav

Combining Philips’ technology innovations in image processing and modeling with Traxtal’s PercuNav system, the companies have collaborated to deliver an image guided interventional system that offers minimally invasive soft tissue navigation and auto-image fusion of live ultrasound with CT and MR. The system includes real-time 3D visualization and navigation to guide needles and probes to defined targets and has been used clinically for a range of applications, including biopsies, radiofrequency ablation and abscess drainage.

Works-in-progress

Open MR Oncology Configuration

Philips is showing, as a work-in-progress at ASTRO, a version of its Panorama High Field Open (HFO) MR system with advanced therapy simulation capabilities for treatment planning and interventional oncology. An open MR design allows patients to be scanned in treatment position, which is often not possible in a cylindrical magnet.

Philips Panorama HFO, the world’s first high-field open MR with active shielding, delivers high-field performance and 1.5T-like image quality combined with maximum patient comfort and access.

Pinnacle3 Version 9 with SmartArc

Philips focuses on enterprise-wide image and information management with the latest version of its radiation treatment planning system, Pinnacle3 Version 9, being shown as a work-in-progress. Expected for release in the second quarter of 2009, the new version is being designed to offer new workflow improvements, including features such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) feature enhancements include handling of 4D image sets, streamlined image import that allows for one click imports of multiple image sets, and expanded DICOM export functionality. To address the more complex treatment plans of volumetric arc therapy planning, Philips is also demonstrating SmartArc, a dose planning module for volumetric intensity modulated arc therapy based on Philips’ existing IMRT and conformal arc planning software.

About Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE:PHG ) (AEX:PHI) is a diversified Health and Well-being company, focused on improving people’s lives through timely innovations. As a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand promise of “sense and simplicity.” Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 133,000 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of US$42 billion (EUR 27 billion) in 2007, the company is a market leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as lifestyle products for personal well-being and pleasure with strong leadership positions in flat TV, male shaving and grooming, portable entertainment and oral healthcare. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.


Source: Royal Philips Electronics

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