At the 25th anniversary of the European Congress of Radiology last weekend in Vienna, Philips introduced a new CT scanner.

Designed with operational finances and total cost of ownership in mind, the 72-centimeter bore Incisive CT comes with an industry-first “Tube for Life” guarantee in which Philips will replace the X-ray tube throughout the entire lifespan of the system at no additional cost, potentially reducing operational expenses by an estimated $400,000.

“Everybody that uses CT sees that CT consumption can be one of the largest contributors to their operational expenditures, following the capital purchase,” said Mark Olszewski, global marketing leader for computed tomography at Philips Healthcare. “With that guarantee, should an X-ray tube fail during the life of a system, we will replace it at no charge, to further relieve the costs and worries of our customers.”

The tube in question is the new vMRC tube, which builds on the longevity of the MRC tube used for decades by Philips in its solutions. The component is equipped with added intelligence and sensors for remote monitoring.

Configured for 64-slice and 128-slice scanning, Incisive CT can perform a majority of procedures, including oncology imaging and cardiac imaging, and can grow as practices do, going for instance from two to four centimeter configurations for those that expand beyond routine exams and into spaces such as cardiac.

Dose management is controlled by DoseWise Portal, a web-based monitoring solution that collects, measures, analyzes and reports patient and staff radiation exposure to help control quality of care, efficiency and safety. In addition, the Philips iDose4 Premium Package builds upon these aspects by providing iDose4 for artifact prevention and increased spatial resolution at low dose, and O-MAR for reducing artifacts caused by large orthopedic implants. Further confidence among staff for managing dose can be found due to the system’s 70 kV scan mode, which improves low-contrast detectability at low dose without sacrificing image quality.

The scanner is also equipped with a series of workflow enhancements for scanner and console, such as Philips’ OnPlan patient side-gantry controls, which enable clinicians to plan and manage setup and pre-scan adjustments right at the patient’s bedside, minimizing time spent away from them and reducing anxiety.

Such features enhance image quality and reduce movement and motion artifacts, as well as supporting a higher level of scanning consistency across different members of the system’s operating team, with a recent study showing a 19 percent reduction in scanning time.

The system is capable of integrating with IntelliSpace Portal for post-processing of complex cases, providing access to advanced visualization capabilities, IntelliSpace PACS and operational software for operational optimization. It is equipped with PerformanceBridge for continuous organization improvements, and can be configured with optional add-ons, such as Philips’ Ambient Experience.

Part of the overall offering is the Technology Maximizer, which enables providers to receive upgrades and stay current with consul software and hardware throughout the life of the system. A proactive system is also included to provide real-time monitoring for predicting and solving issues before they impact day-to-day operations. It can fix 31 percent of all issues without the need for on-site service, improving system uptime and saving on operational and maintenance costs.

“From an end-end perspective, we’re driving down the cost of the system and the total cost of ownership and helping from a practice management standpoint; our customers manage their practices over time,” said Olszewski.

Incisive CT is CE-marked and FDA-cleared. The system is currently available for sale in Europe and will be commercialized in other parts of the world as the year progresses.