Amsterdam, the Netherlands – Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today launched the Ingenia Ambition X 1.5T MR. This exciting new innovation is the latest advance in the Ingenia MRI portfolio, which comprises fully-digital MRI systems, healthcare informatics and a range of maintenance and life cycle services for integrated solutions that empower a faster, smarter, and simpler path to enabling a confident diagnosis. The first commercial installation of the Ingenia Ambition X was recently completed at Spital Uster Hospital, a major provider of extended primary healthcare in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland. The Ingenia Ambition X is CE marked and has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In radiology, meeting the need for high productivity and an improved patient experience while ensuring excellence in imaging can be daunting. The perception is often that MR represents a trade-off between productivity and image quality. The Ingenia Ambition X provides leading-edge MR imaging capabilities while helping to increase overall productivity, combining its revolutionary BlueSeal magnet with innovations that can help reduce downtime, enable single operator workflow and speed up exam times by up to 50% [1].

“MRI provides exceptional diagnostic and therapy guidance capabilities, but it also places substantial operational demands on the hospital or imaging center due to requirements for installation, footprint and service,” said Arjen Radder, Global Business Leader for MR at Philips. “BlueSeal is breakthrough MRI technology and we’re proud to be first to market. The fully-sealed magnet dramatically reduces the amount of liquid helium needed to cool the magnet to less than half a percent of the current norm [2]. This results in significant operational benefits for our customers, including a smaller, lighter and more flexible installation footprint and a more efficient return to normal operations if an interruption in service should ever occur.”

Incorporating Philips’ breakthrough BlueSeal fully-sealed magnet, the Ingenia Ambition X is the world’s first MR system to enable helium-free operations [3], reducing the chance of potentially lengthy and costly disruptions, and virtually eliminating dependency on a commodity with an unpredictable supply. The fully-sealed system does not require a vent pipe and is around 900kg lighter than its predecessor [2], significantly reducing the siting challenges presented by conventional magnets and lowering construction costs.

“We are very proud to be the first hospital in the world to offer this new cutting edge, resource-friendly MRI technology to our patients,” said Dr Andreas Steinauer, Chief Radiologist at Spital Uster Hospital, Switzerland. “With the new Philips Ingenia Ambition X our patients can have the best of two worlds: leading MRI technology with a smaller footprint. This new leaner platform will allow more sites to deliver advanced MRI technology to their patients, helping to improve patient care.”

Wealth of innovations delivers a step-change in MR productivity

The Ingenia Ambition X includes a range of innovative features that combine to deliver a step-change in productivity. With Philips’ EasySwitch solution, the BlueSeal’s magnetic field can be easily turned off if an item becomes stuck in the bore. Once the problem is resolved, an in-house or Philips technician [4] can initiate an automated ramp-up to bring the magnet back to field, minimizing operational downtime. A conventional MR can require two staff to manage daily operations. The Ingenia Ambition X combines guided patient setup and Adaptive Intelligence-driven SmartExam analytics for automatic planning, scanning and processing [5]. This frees up time to enable a single operator to manage the full scan from the patient’s side with just a single touch of a button.

Philips Compressed SENSE is an advanced acceleration application that reduces exam times by up to 50% [1]. In addition, Philips VitalEye is a unique approach to detecting patient physiology and breathing movement, using technology and algorithms to intelligently extract signs of breathing. When used in combination with VitalScreen, it allows routine exam set-up time to occur in less than a minute, even for less experienced operators [6]. Together, these innovations help to standardize and speed up workflow, allowing clinicians to focus on the patient.

Breaking down diagnostic boundaries by delivering speed, comfort and confidence

The Ingenia Ambition X is part of the all-new Ingenia digital MR portfolio. Find out more about how Philips’ MR innovations are improving speed, comfort and confidence here. For more information on how Philips is helping to break down silos and provide solutions that improve the patient and staff experience, drive better productivity and efficiency, enable increased diagnostic confidence and better practice management, visit here.

¹ Using Compressed SENSE technology and compared to Philips exams without Compressed SENSE

² Compared to the Ingenia 1.5T ZBO magnet

³ The Ingenia Ambition 1.5T contains less than 0.5% of the helium of a conventional system and this is permanently sealed inside the device

⁴ Subject to service agreement

⁵ SmartExam is not available to patients with MR Conditional Implants

⁶ Based on in-house testing