Health technology company Royal Philips announced it received FDA 510(k) clearance for its latest image-guided navigation system for prostate cancer.
The UroNav system features an annotation workflow that supports clinicians during prostate biopsies and focal therapy procedures.
It fuses diagnostic MRI images of the prostate with live ultrasound images for guided procedures in real time. The aim is to help deliver more precise, minimally invasive care.
Additionally, Philips UroNav offers compatibility with ultrasound devices and needle guides, improved privacy and security protections, and integration with Philips DynaCAD systems for radiology and urology.
"We’re helping clinicians deliver more precise prostate cancer care by streamlining complex workflows and delivering the insights they need to support precise diagnosis and expand options for minimally invasive treatments," Martijn Hartjes, business leader of clinical informatics at Philips, said in a statement.
"Our goal is to equip clinicians with the clinical tools required so they can deliver better care for more patients."
THE LARGER TREND
Earlier this month, Royal Philips announced a collaboration with Epic to integrate Philips' cardiac ambulatory monitoring and diagnostics services into Epic's specialty diagnostics suite, Aura.
The collaboration will offer a comprehensive cardiac care portfolio, integrating with Aura. For its part, Philips will deliver interoperability between its ambulatory monitoring technologies and Epic.
The Philips-Epic collaboration will also help with administrative tasks by automating patient activation, staff notifications and charting.
In addition, Royal Philips launched the Philips ECG AI Marketplace, a platform that provides cardiac care teams with access to multiple vendor offerings in a single location, helping clinicians manage and implement AI-powered diagnostic tools more easily.
Anumana, an AI-driven cardiac-focused health technology company, was the first organization to leverage Philips' platform. Its FDA-cleared ECG-AI LEF (Low Ejection Fraction) algorithm will be available in the Philips ECG AI Marketplace.
In March, Royal Philips expanded its partnership with Ibex Medical Analytics, which included the release of the Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution (PIPS) to accelerate the adoption of AI-enabled digital pathology tools.
In 2021, Royal Philips and Ibex combined PIPS with Ibex's Galen AI-powered cancer diagnostics platform.
The agreement was aimed at helping pathologists generate objective, reproducible results, increase diagnostic confidence, and achieve the productivity and efficiency improvements needed to cope with the growing demand for pathology-based diagnostics.
That same month, Royal Philips partnered with Ingeborg Initiatives, a maternal health company, to provide expectant parents in Arkansas access to the Philips Avent Pregnancy+ app, which offers personalized information provided by the state, such as 800 articles, lifelike 3D baby models, a weekly pregnancy tracker and audio/video courses, Arkansas-based social services, infant health topics, mental health resources, early childhood programs led by health and well-being experts as well as tools to increase access to care. The partnership aims to enhance health literacy and encourage users to embrace healthy habits.
