Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) has announced the availability of the HeartStart MRx monitor/ defibrillator with capability to network with the Philips IntelliVue Clinical Network. This new functionality enables the MRx to serve as a wireless transport monitor/defibrillator or cardiac bedside monitor/defibrillator with built-in pacing, synchronized cardioversion and defibrillation capabilities.

Using the HeartStart MRx, hospitals will be able to transport patients who require cardiac monitoring or therapy between departments or within the same unit without changing equipment. The MRx can also be used at the bedside in departments that would benefit from having both centralized surveillance and cardiac therapy at their fingertips.

"For the critical care environment, the ability to transport, defibrillate and view the data at a central station is the best of all worlds," said Lynn Cochran, Director of Cardiovascular In-Patient Services at Edward Hospital and Health Services in Naperville, Ill. "And since the HeartStart MRx uses the same cables and leads as IntelliVue bedside monitors, transports are faster and easier. You just remove the cables from the bedside, plug them into the MRx and away you go."

"Philips is committed to enhancing patient safety and helping medical professionals save lives, and this is exactly the thinking behind the research and development of the new networking capability on the HeartStart MRx," said Michael Miller, senior vice president of Cardiac Care for Philips Medical Systems. "Since it combines two key devices, a monitor and a defibrillator, hospital staff will have less equipment to maintain and carry, and will be able to provide constant surveillance and accurate documentation for their patients."

The HeartStart MRx provides advanced functionality, featuring the longest battery-powered operating time, as well as the largest color display and fastest time to shock of any monitor/defibrillator. The highly scalable, flexible IntelliVue Clinical Network is designed specifically to manage the flow of time-critical, round-the-clock patient monitoring data. The network maintains a controlled connection to exchange information on the hospital network and can also export patient data in HL7 format to a patient's electronic chart and other clinical information systems.

Philips showcased the HeartStart MRx this week at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual meeting in New Orleans.

* The wireless networking capabilities of the HeartStart MRx are currently only available in the U.S.

News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.

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