Cape Town hosts the installation of Africa’s first next generation image guided therapy platform for superior patient care

• The new future-proof platform, Philips Azurion, allows clinicians to perform a wide range of routine and complex procedures more consistently and efficiently, helping them to optimise interventional laboratory (“lab”) performance and provide superior care.
• Developed in collaboration with leading hospitals worldwide, the first of its kind operating system features an easy-to-use intuitive user interface combined with real-time information on multiple work spots within the interventional lab.

South Africa, Cape Town Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a leader in health technology, today announced the installation of Azurion, the first of its kind future-proof image guided care platform in Africa, at the Mediclinic Panorama in Cape Town.

This next generation image-guided therapy platform forms the new core of its integrated solutions portfolio, for the fast growing image-guided therapy market. As a leader in this market, Philips offers integrated solutions comprising interventional imaging technologies and planning and navigation software combined with interventional devices - including catheters for diagnosis and therapy - and a broad range of services, all aimed at helping clinicians to provide superior care at predictable costs.

Following the acquisition of Volcano in 2015, via which Philips has become a leader in advanced catheters for diagnosis and therapy, Philips is now further cementing its overall leadership in the EUR 5 billion image-guided therapy market with one of its largest product introductions in Africa in recent years.

Philips’ Azurion image-guided therapy platform for interventional labs is the result of a multi-year development program conducted in close collaboration with leading clinicians in the field. This next generation platform features a state-of-the-art ergonomic design with an easy-to-use intuitive user interface, enabling clinicians to swiftly and confidently perform a wide range of routine and complex procedures in the interventional lab.

With the rapid growth of image-guided therapy procedures, hospitals and health systems are increasingly faced with the need to control costs, while improving their standards of care. The Philips Azurion has been designed to address these challenges and is equipped with new workflow options and performance dashboards, as well as an upcoming range of productivity improvement services.

The Azurion platform also features over 1,000 new components, including an enhanced flat-panel detector, and Philips’ newly developed ConnectOS operating system for the seamless integration of real-time information from all relevant technologies in the interventional lab. All of these components work together to deliver high image quality at ultra-low X-ray dose and real-time image processing on multiple work spots within the interventional lab.

Parallel working enables the team of clinicians to complete different tasks simultaneously in the interventional lab, saving valuable time without compromising quality of care. Azurion features procedure cards that allow clinicians to pre-program routine tasks and user preferences, helping to minimize preparation errors and further reducing preparation and procedure time.

Philips has pioneered a steady stream of innovations in planning and navigation software for areas such as vascular surgery (e.g. VesselNavigator), interventional cardiology (e.g. EchoNavigator), interventional oncology (e.g. EmboGuide), and interventional neuroradiology (e.g. AneurysmFlow). All these advanced interventional tools integrate seamlessly into the Azurion platform to support the clinical workflow.

Driven by their benefits for patients and care providers, minimally-invasive therapies, such as the catheter-based treatment of certain tumours, aneurysms, obstructed blood vessels, heart rhythm disorders and defective heart valves, continue to grow fast. In addition to reduced patient trauma and shorter recovery times, such procedures also have the benefit of allowing the treatment of patients who would not be able to withstand the trauma of open surgery.

However, during such procedures, clinicians cannot directly see and feel the organs they are working on. Effective imaging, measurement and navigation technologies are therefore key to guiding minimally-invasive procedures. At the heart of the interventional lab, these technologies allow identification and visualization of target organs and tissues, the operation of interventional devices, and the placement of implants, leading to improved chances of therapy success.

Driven by their benefits for patients and care providers, minimally-invasive therapies, such as the catheter-based treatment of certain tumours, aneurysms, obstructed blood vessels, heart rhythm disorders and defective heart valves, continue to grow fast. In addition to reduced patient trauma and shorter recovery times, such procedures also have the benefit of allowing the treatment of patients who would not be able to withstand the trauma of open surgery.

However, during such procedures, clinicians cannot directly see and feel the organs they are working on. Effective imaging, measurement and navigation technologies are therefore key to guiding minimally-invasive procedures. At the heart of the interventional lab, these technologies allow identification and visualization of target organs and tissues, the operation of interventional devices, and the placement of implants, leading to improved chances of therapy success.

“The imaging environment is critical to perform minimally-invasive procedures efficiently and effectively. An interventionist, wants to be in the cockpit, similar to a pilot in an airplane, where they have control of everything they need and have all the relevant functions at their fingertips. As a leader in image-guided therapy, we have been driving continuous innovation to address rising patient volumes and increased procedure complexity,” said Jose Fernandes, General Manager for Health Systems at Philips South Africa. “Hundreds of Philips developers, engineers and designers and dozens of our clinical partners across the world have collaborated to completely redesign the heart of our portfolio. With the launch of our new Azurion platform, we can deliver new turnkey solutions that support our customers in maintaining high standards of quality and patient care at predictable costs.”

We are on an exciting journey to strengthen Mediclinic Panorama’s position as a centre of excellence for cardiac care; we are the first hospital in Africa with this state-of-the-art technology,” said Mr Riaan Vorster, Hospital General Manager, Mediclinic Panorama. “The Azurion platform provides us with advanced technologies and an excellent user experience, combined with services for guaranteed uptime, seamless integration into our hospital workflows, staff training and education, and enhancement of our productivity. This enables our staff to fully focus on what they do best – providing superior care to our patients.”

Click on this link or type www.philips.com/azurion in your internet browser to visit the Philips Azurion website.