Now that legal hurdles in the U.S. are cleared, the deal for Philips Medical Systems to acquire Intermagnetics General could be completed by the end of October, according to Jacques Coumans, Ph.D., vice president of MR global marketing for Philips. If the two companies keep to this schedule, Philips will exhibit coils for its premier MR scanners, all obtained from Intermagnetics’ subsidiary In Vivo, at the RSNA meeting.
Now that legal hurdles in the U.S. are cleared, the deal for Philips Medical Systems to acquire Intermagnetics General could be completed by the end of October, according to Jacques Coumans, Ph.D., vice president of MR global marketing for Philips. If the two companies keep to this schedule, Philips will exhibit coils for its premier MR scanners, all obtained from Intermagnetics' subsidiary In Vivo, at the meeting.
"We expect that high-channel-count coils for specific anatomies will be made available at the RSNA meeting for 3T and 1.5T systems," Coumans said. "We want to give each anatomy its best possible image quality and that means, in the end, that for most anatomies you needed dedicated coils."
The main driver behind the pending $1.3 billion deal is the business operation behind Intermagnetics' superconducting magnets. These magnets are now the core component of Philips' high-performance cylindrical 3T and 1.5T products, as well as its 1T open system. The coil technology owned and manufactured by In Vivo, however, figures importantly in Philips' MR strategy as the company seeks to expand clinical applications at both field strengths.
Prominently featured at the company's booth at the RSNA meeting will be images using a very high count channel coil supplied by In Vivo. Coumans described these as being from the most sophisticated application they will show.
The top Philips MR exec is cautious, however, not to raise hopes too high that the company will be able to show the coils at the meeting as part of its own offerings. Even if the deal closes when expected, Philips will have just three or four weeks to prepare before the exhibit floor opens. Coumans said the company is ready for whatever happens.
"The audience that comes to RSNA will understand that if the acquisition goes through, some of the coil technology that will be displayed in the In Vivo booth will essentially be shown as part of the Philips road map," he said.
Can MRI-Guided Transurethral Ultrasound Ablation Have an Impact for Localized Prostate Cancer?
December 11th 2023Follow-up MRI imaging one year after transurethral ultrasound ablation revealed approximately 50 percent decreases in prostate volume and median PSA density, according to recently presented research findings at the 2023 Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) Annual Meeting.
What a New Mammography Study Reveals About BMI, Race, Ethnicity and Advanced Breast Cancer Risk
December 8th 2023In a new study examining population attributable risk proportions (PARPs) based on data from over three million screening mammography exams, researchers found that postmenopausal Black women had the highest BMI-related PARP and premenopausal Asian and Pacific Islander women had the highest breast density-related PARP for advanced breast cancer.
Study: Contrast-Enhanced Mammography Changes Surgical Plan in 22.5 Percent of Breast Cancer Cases
December 7th 2023Contrast-enhanced mammography detected additional lesions in 43 percent of patients and led to additional biopsies in 18.2 percent of patients, over half of whom had malignant lesions, according to a study of over 500 women presented at the recent Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conference.
What a New Study Reveals About Adjunctive DBT and Early-Stage Invasive Breast Cancer
December 6th 2023The combination of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) and digital mammography had a 21.6 higher invasive breast cancer detection rate for stage 1 tumors than digital mammography alone, according to a new study involving nearly 100,000 women.