PINEVILLE, La. & ANDOVER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alexandria VA Medical Center (VAMC) and Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG; AEX: PHIA) announced today that the VAMC’s Pineville, LA facility will be the first VA site to adopt the Philips Ingenia 1.5T Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) with in-bore Ambient Experience technology. The state-of-the-art clinical suite offers a soothing patient experience with imagery, sound and light, helping to put patients at ease.

The Alexandria VAMC offers comprehensive acute and extended healthcare in areas of medicine, surgery, psychiatry, physical medicine and rehabilitation, oncology, dentistry, geriatrics and extended care. The VAMC serves a potential veteran population of over 100,000 veterans, including community-based services at Fort Polk, Jennings, Lafayette, Lake Charles and Natchitoches, as well as an active patient roster of over 32,000 patients.

Unlike traditional X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging does not use ionizing radiation to provide high quality images of the body, and includes contrast detail of soft tissue and anatomic structures like gray and white matter in the brain. While this has allowed applications of MRI technology to expand in the areas of neurology, oncology and cardiology, thus increasing demand for this modality, patient anxiety and motion still remain challenges. An MRI scan takes about 30 minutes, and nearly 35% of patients have claustrophobia or some considerable level of anxiety about the machine itself1, with about 20% requiring repeat scans due to motion during the scan2.

The Philips Ingenia 1.5T in-bore Ambient Experience MRI installation includes innovative elements to improve the patient experience:

Positive distraction - Minimal clutter, visual imagery and programmable lighting provide a soothing atmosphere with positive distractions for anxious patients.
Personalization - Patients personalize their experience by selecting a video theme and viewable from inside the MRI from an easy-to-position mirror. Combined with sound (through comfortable headphones), the experience becomes truly immersive and soothing.
Information - AutoVoice gently guides patients through the procedure, announcing scan times and table movements, providing information that helps put patients at ease.
Reduced acoustic noise - Noise is one of the most uncomfortable parts of an MRI exam for many patients. ComforTone automatically provides up to 80% noise reduction3.
In addition to giving the patients the perception of being in a bigger space and putting them at ease, the Philips Ingenia 1.5T offers enhanced workflow, high quality images and a fast, comfortable patient set-up. The Philips Ingenia 1.5T offers the iPatient platform, which is designed for routine and challenging patients, including large patients, elderly and kyphotic. It offers as much as a 30% improvement in throughput, hinged upon the unique FlexCoverage Posterior coil that provides neck-to-toe coverage without the need for any manual removal or repositioning. FlexStream enables imaging with fewer coils and reduces coil positioning and patient setup time. Now clinicians can perform routine exams for brain, spine, knee, ankle and liver within less than eight minutes with excellent image quality. In addition, iPatient eliminates up to 50% of repetitive manual tasks4. Moreover, high quality images and remarkable speed are possible with dStream digital broadband MR architecture, offering up to 40% more SNR5 and enhanced throughput with channel-independent RF technology that makes upgrades easy.

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