Philips Medical Systems chose the RSNA meeting to unveil two new MR scanners and a revamped CT equipment lineup.

Replacing the Tomoscan line, the premium CT Secura and mid-tier CT Aura made their worldwide debut at the meeting's opening day. Although Philips received Food and Drug Administration clearance for the two scanners in April, the company opted to keep them under wraps until this meeting.

Production of Tomoscan scanners is winding down, with the last deliveries slated to take place in January 2000. The company's mobile CT scanner will retain the Tomoscan name although it is not built on the Tomoscan platform.

Both the CT Aura and Secura are billed as high-end systems with PACS-oriented consoles. The new systems offer the only consoles with built-in Internet access, according to the company. Numerous workstation features have been incorporated into the dual monitor consoles, including postprocessing capabilities and workflow management software for easier IT upgrades.

Along with the scanners, Philips has a new CT division head. Rene Claussen, formerly head of the management team at Philips Surgery, has been named director of the CT Program Management Group.

Philips also introduced three new MR systems: the Gyroscan Intera general purpose system, the Gyroscan Intera CV dedicated cardiovascular system, and the Gyroscan Intera I/T, designed for interventional procedures and assistance in therapy.

The Intera has a new reconstructor known as RapidView, with a reconstruction speed of up to 196 images per second. The magnet also is the lightest (3000 kg) currently on the market.