Archive for November, 2008

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King of Medical Equipment

Friday, November 28th, 2008

In its drive to become King of the Medical Equipment industry, Philips Healthcare Services has acquired six companies since its inception in 1998. So, has Philips arrived at the royal industry castle yet? Some believe so. In fact, prior to the last two acquisitions, Palo Alto’s “growth consulting” company Frost & Sullivan seemed to think so. In 2004 Frost & Sullivan announced they were awarding Philips five, count them, FIVE awards for “technology and services innovation and industry leadership”. Philips was recognized for making distinguished contributions to the cardiac resuscitation and medical imaging industries and for providing leadership in these market segments.

Was Frost & Sullivan just looking for a spot at the royal court or were these legitimate kudos? Probably the later. F&S conducted interviews with many market players along with their customers and suppliers, and reportedly did extensive research into the medical equipment technology field.

One of the five awards included the regent-like titles of “Medical Imaging Company of the Year”, “New Care Setting of the Year”, and “Medical Imaging Technology of the Year”. The other two were for Technology Leadership and Services Innovation Leadership.

The response of Jouko Karvinen, president and CEO of Philips Medical Systems, to the awards sounded like the equivalent of an industry coronation speech. He stated, “We proudly accept the Frost & Sullivan Awards as an independent validation of Philips business and technology leadership…. These five awards are further indicators that Philips continues to set the industry standard for developing innovative products that help treat patients and save lives.”

Royal Philips. Long live the King!

Posted in Medical Imaging, Medical Imaging Equipment | No Comments »

Philips Electronics’ Acquisition Frenzy

Thursday, November 27th, 2008

In 2001 was a watershed year as Philips shifted into high gear by bringing on two more companies and their product lines – Agilent and Marconi Medical. By procuring Agilent Technologies’ Healthcare Solutions Group of Massachusetts, Philips catapulted past GE Medical as the leader of the ultrasound sector. Philips absorbed Agilent’s expertise in the areas of diagnostic cardiology, automated defibrillators, patient monitoring, and point of care diagnostic systems.

Marconi Medical Systems of Ohio, formerly Picker International, was already a big player in its own right among major global CT suppliers. With Marconi, Philips gained cutting-edge multi-slice CT technology along with cardiology, oncology and PET/CT imaging applications. These two acquisitions in one year landed Philips in the top three for the entire medical equipment industry along with giants Siemens and GE Medical – some say as number two.

In 2005, the growth continued as Philips bought Stentor, Inc. of California, provider best-in-class picture archiving and communications systems (PACS). This move allowed Philips to help its clients successfully manage the voluminous amounts of imaging data created by its medical scanners. Then, the following year, the growth continued as Philips adopted Witt Biomedical Corporation, the largest independent supplier of Cath Lab monitoring and reporting systems.

In its drive to become King of the Medical Equipment industry, Philips Healthcare Services has acquired six companies since its inception in 1998. Each of the six has expanded Philips’ offerings to include a total of ten medical imaging modalities, from CT to MRI to x-ray, along with defibrillation and cardiac monitoring equipment as well as image and information management solutions.

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Fathering a King

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

In 1998, Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands fathered the Philips Healthcare Services group and appears determined that the son will soon become King of the medical equipment industry. This move apparently came in response to GE Medical Systems’ announcement that it planned on becoming king itself of the ultrasound industry before the year 2000. Not to be “out-royaled”, Philips from the first year began acquisition frenzy in order to expand its subsidiary’s product portfolio well beyond its initial product line, which started in 1918 with medical x-ray tubes.

At the end of Philips Healthcare Services first year, Philips Electronics added digital ultrasound systems to PHS’s portfolio by acquiring ATL Ultrasound of Washington. Only two years later, in late 2000, Philips expanded into nuclear medicine by absorbing ADAC Laboratories of California. From this on, Philips Healthcare Services has been driven with its goal to become the king of the Medical Equipments.

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Factors to Consider in Buying Medical Imaging Parts

Sunday, November 9th, 2008

The unit cost is key player in the factors to consider in buying medical imaging parts or any item in particular, however, it is not the only thing that we must consider. Here we list the other factors one should consider in choosing your medical imaging supplier.

Inventory – First and foremost, any medical imaging parts supplier you work with must carry replacement parts for the majority of equipment you maintain. Most suppliers have on-line inventories that can help you determine which suppliers meet most of your medical imaging parts needs.

Warranty – What kind of warranty does the supplier offer? If medical imaging parts are refurbished, who is refurbishing? Is there ISO-based quality control?

Return/Exchange policy – What is their policy for returning a medical imaging part that has been incorrectly ordered? Is there a time limit? Does the company give money back or exchange only?

Shipping – Shipping and handling costs can be the hidden high cost component of the purchase price. Be sure you understand all S&H costs ahead of time. Also, can the company absolutely, positively get you a medical imaging part overnight?

Customer service – Will the company work with you to solve your problem, whatever it is? Is customer service available 24/7? Are there BMETs available to help you trouble shoot medical imaging parts issues if necessary? Use this checklist to evaluate vendors. Select two or three vendors that you can rely on. Do not depend on one vendor for all your needs; remember the “all my eggs in one basket” rule.

Posted in Medical Imaging, Medical Imaging Equipment, Philips Medical, Used Medical Equipment | No Comments »

The Affordability of Medical Imaging Parts

Thursday, November 6th, 2008

If you are a biomedical engineering technician, you may have responsibility for locating and purchasing medical imaging parts for the biomedical equipment that you are responsible to maintain. As you already know, there are dozens and possibly hundreds of suppliers of medical imaging parts available to choose from. But how is the cost a vital factor in choosing a medical imaging parts supplier?

Cost is not a straightforward issue. If you search for the lowest cost, you may find yourself with medical imaging parts that are inferior in quality. However, you certainly don’t want to get burned by paying premium prices if you don’t have to. There are two considerations you can make. First, is the medical imaging part inherently complex so that you should apply a “get what you pay for” principle and buy premium? Or, is the part rather simple so that the “plain vanilla” low cost version will do. Second, is the amount of money you will need to spend significant enough to warrant the work? Look at the range of prices in the marketplace. If there is a general range, that probably means that you will be paying about the same price everywhere, so go ahead and buy the medical imaging part based on other criteria. If there are dramatic highs and lows, you need to understand why these differences exist. For example, is the low priced supplier able to keep his overhead so low that everything is a bargain? Great! Or is he selling inferior product?

For the raging medical imaging equipment and parts cost, it is indeed wise to research the market, compare from suppliers and study how you can get an affordable yet equally high-grade medical imaging supplies.

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Fe8 – Breakthrough for Medical Imaging

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

Florida State University researcher Naresh Dalal and other researchers have developed a magnetic molecule identified as “Fe8″ which contains all of the preferred attributes. This single molecule magnet has eight ion bonds, is water-soluble and non-toxic.

Recently published papers describe testing completed on the molecule which shows that Fe8 provides good contract in non-clinical MRI studies over a specific range of concentrations, dispelling an earlier confusion about the value of Fe8 in medical imaging. The earlier research had resulted in conflicting results because the concentration of Fe8 had not been accounted for during testing.

These advances are due in part to advances in the field of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology involves working with particles that are one billionth of a meter thick. The techniques that are available to measure and manipulate such small particles of matter will support additional research on materials such as FE8. Researchers are hoping that these newer medical imaging contrast media will be able to be manipulated for even greater benefit than this initial research suggests. For example, researchers are seeking ways to “turn on” and “turn off” the medical imaging contrast qualities by synthesizing contrast media that binds only to certain other molecules or does so only when subject to specific conditions that can be monitored and managed.

Although this breakthrough in contrast media for medical imaging is extremely promising and may well provide a great leap forward in the quality of magnetic resonance imaging, there is still a great deal of testing and research to be accomplished before Fe8 can be made available for use in human population medical imaging studies.

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