Transforming Healthcare Through Innovation

A recent visit to Philips Innovation Center (PIC) in Bangalore, India enabled me to witness some path breaking medical technologies and devices, developed by Philips Healthcare,  that are set to transform the current status of healthcare market. Philips, with its ‘Open Innovation Strategy’, has combined the innovative prowess of partnering companies and researchers to bring innovative products and services to the market.

PIC Healthcare, with its major focus on constantly improving patient care, has been a preferred choice and one of the leading suppliers of diagnostic systems. They plan to revolutionize the healthcare diagnostic and medical device market through the following introductions:

Heart Navigator: As the name suggests this helps cardiac surgeons to view live images of catheters and heart valve positions in real which will aid in effective and efficient device positioning such as required for heart valve replacement procedures.  It enables an automated planning to help simplify complex structural heart disease procedures by creating an excellent 3D image.

Tumor Tracking Application: This application is made to assist clinicians in detection, diagnosis, staging and monitoring of cancer by measuring patient’s tumor progression over an elongated period of time and thus provide more robust treatment planning. It provides comparison and in-depth analysis by measuring changes in tumor volume and metabolic activity which simplifies the treatment regime.

eICU Programs: It creates a single ICU hub, monitored by critical specialists, which will connect several remote hospitals’ ICU through bed side connected monitors and real-time video images of patient conditions. This will be a blessing in hospitals in a country like India where there is a shortage of skilled clinicians and other healthcare professional. Moreover, imagine the role eICU program would play in remote areas of India where majority of the population do not have access to best doctors and healthcare facility by creating a virtual ICU. Philips has installed this in few Indian hospitals and plan to expand its services in several others.

iDose⁴: This advanced iterative reconstruction technique allows radiologists to personalize image quality based on each patient’s needs with an enhanced image quality. More importantly, it reduces the radiation exposure of the patient to considerable extent thereby reducing the complications involved with radio-diagnostic procedures.  Watch this video to understand the advantages of iDose⁴.

These innovations by Philips Healthcare are here to improve quality of care and provide easy access to efficient healthcare to all. What are your views on it?