Imaging Initiative Devised to Shape the Future of Radiology

Imaging 2.0 is an initiative designed to address the needs of radiologists and to expand clinical excellence through greater collaboration and integration, combined with increased patient focus and enhanced economic value.

At the 97th annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), held November 27 -December 2, 2011, in Chicago, IL, USA, Philips Healthcare (Best, The Netherlands) presented the opinions of leading experts to ensure that the potential of its RSNA 2010 product introductions were delivered.

Over 2010, Philips tracked more than 60 scientific studies, representing more than 1,000 exams at many different institutions, to confirm the improvements provided by its range of imaging systems released under the banner Imaging 2.0. Imaging 2.0 is an initiative designed to address the stated needs of radiologists and to raise the bar on clinical excellence through greater collaboration and integration, coupled with increased patient focus and enhanced economic value.

“At Philips, we recognize that radiology is the cornerstone of diagnosis and treatment, and that clinical integration and collaboration are key to more personal care, better patient outcomes and lower costs,” said Gene Saragnese, executive vice president and CEO, imaging systems, for Philips Healthcare. “By committing to Imaging 2.0 and proactively gaining valuable insights from customers, we continue to create new ways for imaging and information to work together to help clinicians deliver the best care possible in today’s health care environment.”

Highlights of clinician findings included (1) In the field of nuclear medicine, clinicians found the advantage of Philips Astonish time-of-flight (TOF) technology versus non-TOF technology for positron emission tomography (PET). They revealed that Astonish TOF technology at low lesion contrast could be vital in the detection of marginally detectable lung lesions. (2) After using Philips iU22 XMatrix ultrasound system, sonographers found that using volume ultrasound techniques (allows for the review, analysis and reprocessing of data in various display formats) enhanced perception and diagnosis by offering multiple image orientations. (3) When evaluating Philips magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), clinicians credited the efficient design of the Philips Ingenia, including its coil setup, with the reduction of total scan times and an increase in patient throughput. (4) Experts also assessed Philips IntelliSpace Portal, a multimodality, multivendor workstation that provides access to imaging studies and a rich set of clinical applications from virtually anywhere.

“We found that the Portal really opens the door to authentic and effective peer-to-peer communication as it pertains to image analysis in studies such as cardiac CT angiography, brain perfusion, cartilage assessment and multimodality tumor tracking,” said Dr. George M. Ebert, radiologist and vice chair, imaging technology, Fletcher Allen (Burlington, VT, USA). “It’s particularly useful when discussing results with a nonradiologist, who has a basic knowledge of imaging but doesn’t use it on a day-to-day basis.”

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