Philips and Imricor Launch Cardiac Interventional MR Lab Solution, Expanding Longstanding Collaboration
Meeting the need for greater tissue insight during cardiac intervention
Cardiac arrhythmias affect millions of people worldwide, and catheter ablation is an established and increasingly utilized treatment for many complex cardiac arrhythmias. Yet today, these procedures continue to rely primarily on X-ray fluoroscopy, which provides only indirect visualization of soft tissue while exposing patients and clinical teams to ionizing radiation.
MRI has already transformed cardiac diagnosis by enabling clinicians to visualize cardiac anatomy and tissue in exceptional detail. Bringing that same level of tissue insight into intervention has the potential to help physicians guide therapy more precisely, assess treatment response during procedures and identify potential therapy gaps before a patient leaves the procedure room – all within a radiation-free work environment of an iMR.
"Our ambition is not only to advance what clinicians can see with MRI, but also what they can do with it," said Ioannis Panagiotelis, PhD, Business Leader, Magnetic Resonance at Philips. "Philips has a long history of helping clinicians perform image-guided procedures with confidence, and we believe MRI can play an even greater role in providing care. With this new iMR lab solution, enabled through our collaboration with Imricor, we're expanding the role of cardiac MRI from diagnosis into the treatment environment."
Panagiotelis added, "Cardiac electrophysiology is just the beginning. This iMR lab solution represents an important step in Philips' strategy to advance MRI across the care continuum, creating a platform that can expand into additional clinical areas while helping clinicians deliver the best possible care for their patients."
iMR built on Philips’ leading cardiac 1.5T MRI platform
The iMR lab solution combines Philips' high-performance 1.5T MRI platform with Imricor's portfolio of MR-compatible systems and consumables to create a complete, connected environment for MR-guided cardiac intervention – marking the next milestone in the companies' long-standing collaboration to bring MR-guided cardiac intervention into routine clinical practice.
The first commercially available configuration includes Philips' Cardiac MR Suite, featuring SmartHeart AI-powered cardiac planning and advanced cardiac imaging applications alongside Imricor's NorthStar® iMR mapping and guidance system, Advantage-MR® EP Recorder/Stimulator and Vision-MR® family of electrophysiology catheters**. Together, these technologies enable physicians to visualize cardiac anatomy and arrhythmia substrate, actively track catheters, perform electroanatomical mapping, assess lesion formation and evaluate treatment response throughout procedures within Philips' 1.5T MR environment.
For hospitals, the iMR lab solution provides a turnkey platform for MR-guided cardiac intervention, bringing together advanced imaging, intelligent workflows and MR-compatible interventional technologies. The solution is built on Philips' BlueSeal helium-free MRI technology***, reducing siting complexity and enabling installation closer to cardiology departments, helping support adoption today while establishing a scalable foundation for future iMR-guided procedures.
“With interventional MR, the idea is not to move procedures into diagnostic MRI suites, but rather to bring MR imaging into the procedure room, a room we call an iMR lab," said Steve Wedan, Founder and CEO of Imricor. “Our collaboration with Philips has always been driven by this shared vision, and with our combined iMR lab solution, that vision becomes a reality today. Pairing Philips' world-class 1.5T MR platform with Imricor's exclusive portfolio of advanced iMR systems and interventional tools creates the world’s first state-of-the-art high-performance iMR lab solution. We believe the future is about advanced image guidance for therapies and interventions, and the future is here now."
The iMR lab solution will be showcased in
*Philips issued a Third-Party Product Compatibility Declaration for Imricor's interventional MRI (iMR) equipment and consumables.
**NorthStar and the Vision-MR Diagnostic Catheter are commercially available in the
***Helium-free operations. 7 liters of helium is permanently enclosed in the cryogenic circuit.
About Royal Philips
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people’s health and well-being through meaningful innovation. Philips’ patient- and people-centric innovation leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver personal health solutions for consumers and professional health solutions for healthcare providers and their patients in the hospital and the home.
Headquartered in
About Imricor
Imricor Medical Systems, Inc. (ASX:IMR) is striving to make interventional medical procedures better, safer, and more cost effective by making it possible for these procedures to be performed under real-time magnetic resonance (MR) guidance, rather than under x-ray fluoroscopy guidance, thus taking advantage of MR’s superior imaging capabilities.
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Philips Media Contact:
Name: Jayme Maniatis
Philips Global External Relations
Tel.: +16178948368
E-mail: jayme.maniatis@philips.com
Imricor Media Contacts:
Simon Hinsley
Executive Director, NWR
simon@nwrcommunications.com.au
+61 401 909 653
Nick Corkill
VP Corporate Strategy, Imricor
nick.corkill@imricor.com
+61 450 475 633
Source: Imricor Medical Systems