Philips introduces low-cost, high-performance ultrasound system

The ECR hosted the unveiling of Philips' latest high-performance ultrasound system, the HD (High Definition) 11. The company launched the system commercially in mid-February as a state-of-the-art alternative for budget-strapped healthcare facilities.

HD11, which lists for about $100,000, can serve as a secondary ultrasound unit in a tertiary-care center or a primary system in a physician office or clinic. It is designed as a shared services or multispecialty system, addressing radiology, vascular, ob/gyn, and cardiac applications. It can be configured to handle all four or optimized for one or any combination.

HD11 is being released in markets around the world, but up to 40% of the units will likely be sold in Europe, said David L. McCarty, market manager of Philips' global general imaging for ultrasound.

"We did extensive customer interviews from around the world, but we got a lot of input from European customers," he said. "Europe has a sizable high-performance market."

Automation is a key point of the system, which offers iSCAN Intelligent Optimization. This function optimizes multiple parameters, including gain, time gain control (TGC), and compression curve. Ergonomics also figure prominently with a rotating and height adjustable control panel and monitor that provide flexibility in restricted imaging settings.

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"It's definitely the most ergonomic of any high-performance system," McCarty said.

HD11 is being positioned between HDI 5000 and HDI 4000 in Philips' radiology portfolio and between the Sono7500 and EnVisor in its cardiology line-up. It is the third new sonographic product to be released by Philips in the past 12 months. (The other two are the iU (intelligent ultrasound) 22 for radiology and iE (intelligent echocardiography) 33 for cardiology.

Philips' latest product makes use of the company's hallmark broadband digital beam-forming, which acquires up to nine times more tissue information than standard sonographic technologies, according to the company. It incorporates real-time SonoCT multiple line-of-sight technology and XRES for speckle noise reduction. HD11 supports adaptive, tissue and color Doppler, 2D pulse inversion harmonics, 3D multiplanar views, and color power angio imaging.