Royal Philips unveiled its latest CT system, the Access CT, at the 2017 European Congress of Radiology in Vienna, Austria, this week. It's designed for facilities that want to establish or improve their CT imaging capabilities at a reasonable cost.

Health care organizations are becoming increasingly cost conscious as they face reimbursement cuts, patient populations that can't afford to pay medical bills and inefficiencies with growth and expansion.

"It's always important that an imaging solution provide the right answer, the first time, but especially so for health care organizations that rely on a scanner to cover a wide breadth of patient needs within a more limited budget," Kees Wesdorp, business group leader of diagnostic imaging at Philips, said in a statement.
The system can do a lot more than just routine imaging. Philips added advanced applications to the console so that it can be used for brain perfusion, lung nodule analysis, vessel analysis and virtual colonoscopy.

The iFlow console workflow platform offers features that automate the tasks of the technologist. That could help providers maintain and even expand their referral base.

The iDose4 reconstruction algorithm helps to personalize image quality based on a specific patient's needs, while maintaining a low radiation dose. That, in turn, extends the tub life, which is among the most costly parts to replace.

The Access CT's 70 kV scan mode can also lower the dose by up to 20 percent. That's especially useful for pediatric patients who are considerably more sensitive to radiation than adults, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Philips also offers 24-hour monitoring to head off issues before they arise. That can benefit a facility's bottom line by minimizing downtime and maximizing patient throughput.

"Access CT provides the right balance of performance and value to enable organizations with limited budgets to incorporate critical, high-quality imaging capabilities into their care offering," said Wesdorp.

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