Philips signs long-term strategic partnership with Oulu University Hospital Finland to deliver advanced image-guided specialist care

The agreement will also act as an enabler for collaboration between the hospital and a Philips consultancy team specialized in providing services to drive healthcare transformation. Working closely with Oulu University Hospital, this team will identify unmet needs and help map out the way forward to maximize the benefits of the partnership and associated clinical research collaborations. Together, the organizations will drive efficiencies and innovations aimed at helping the hospital deliver on the Quadruple Aim of better health outcomes, increased efficiency, and improved patient and staff experiences.

As part of the first phase of the agreement, Philips will deliver 11 state-of-the-art interventional suites to support the hospital’s new interventional cardiology and interventional radiology departments. They will all be equipped with the latest release of Philips’ Image Guided Therapy System – Azurion with FlexArm – an advanced image-guided therapy platform that offers the latest innovations to help physicians improve efficiency, workflow and treatment outcomes, while also delivering a unique patient and staff experience. Azurion, together with other integrated live 3D visualization and device guidance solutions from Philips, supports a wide range of minimally-invasive procedures, ranging from cardiac and vascular to acute neuro and oncology treatments.

“It’s our aim to build the smartest hospital in the world, capable of meeting the challenges of future specialized care and ensuring the best-possible treatments for the people we serve in Northern Finland,” said Dr. Kari Ylitalo, Head of the Heart Center of Oulu University Hospital. “We believe this long-term partnership with Philips, which provides us with the latest health technology innovations and services, helps us to meet this commitment.”

“As an accountable business partner, through our long-term strategic partnership with Oulu University Hospital we look forward to helping them realize their vision of the future of healthcare,” said Mikko Vasama, General Manager Philips Nordics. “Using our expertise in cardiovascular care, our goal is to help clinicians treat their patients better by innovating existing image-guided therapy procedures and making entirely new ones possible. As a result of this agreement, Oulu University Hospital’s physicians will be able to provide their patients with the most advanced innovations for the treatment of cardiac and vascular disease.”

Examples of interventions that will take place in the new interventional cardiology and interventional radiology suites include catheter-based cardiac and vascular procedures to open clogged peripheral or coronary arteries, place cardiac implantable electronic devices, and treat cardiac arrythmias, as well as acute neuro interventions (for example, treatment for stroke) and procedures to treat cancer. For very complex procedures such as transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), or combination therapies where open and minimally-invasive surgery may both be involved, a Philips Azurion Hybrid OR will also be installed. This integrates a surgical operating room and Azurion into a sterile setting for maximum flexibility.

To support multiple procedure types, Oulu University Hospital’s interventional suites will be equipped with Philips Interventional Applications Platform – IntraSight, a secure, fully integrated application-based platform that offers a comprehensive suite of clinically proven physiology, imaging, and co-registration tools for image-guided procedures across the interventional lab workflow. It includes support for IVUS (intravascular ultrasound) catheters capable of imaging the interior of blood vessels, and pressure wires capable of performing hemodynamic impact measurements such as FFR (fractional flow reserve) or iFR (instant wave free ratio). Other suites will be equipped with Philips Interventional Hemodynamic System, which enables integration with Philips’ portable Patient Monitor IntelliVue X3 to record continuous measurements such as ECG, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and respiration rate before, during, and after image-guided procedures.

Philips has a comprehensive suite of solutions for the diagnosis and minimally-invasive treatment of structural heart and peripheral vascular disease, which aim to remove the barriers associated with complex procedures by helping to deliver clinical confidence where it is needed most – at the point of treatment. These solutions help strengthen clinical confidence, build efficiency throughout the care pathway, and enhance the care experience for both patients and staff.