Philips Newly Installed Hybrid Imaging Systems Helping to Improve Diagnostic Confidence and Care at Top Hospitals.

ANDOVER, Mass. -- Philips Announces 64-Slice Configurations for PET/CT and SPECT/CT Systems to Improve Image Quality and Accuracy

Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG)(AEX:PHI) announced today that its advanced hybrid imaging systems are saving time, increasing diagnostic confidence and improving treatment accuracy at several hospitals across North America. The first worldwide installations of Philips GEMINI GXL PET/CT (positron emission technology/computed tomography) and Precedence SPECT/CT (single photon emission computed tomography) have been completed at major luminary sites, and clinical results have surpassed our expectations. Philips is also introducing 64-slice configurations for both hybrid imaging systems at the 52nd Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) annual meeting in Toronto, Canada (June 18-22).

"Hybrid imaging systems are no longer the future of imaging; they are a reality, and they are providing significant advancements in patient care right now," said Bruce Line, M.D., director of nuclear medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center and professor of radiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md. "Philips is on the cutting edge of this medical revolution."

Hybrid imaging is a rapidly evolving class of instrumentation that captures physiological information (with SPECT or PET systems) and anatomical information (with CT systems) in one exam, producing a more comprehensive clinical picture that can significantly improve the evaluation of disease and accelerate the development of molecular imaging agents. Philips provides state-of-the-art hybrid imaging systems, including its GEMINI PET/CT and Precedence SPECT/CT family of products, designed to provide new levels of interpretive confidence and workflow efficiency. Philips systems have full diagnostic CT capabilities built on the Brilliance platform and can be used as stand-alone CT systems to increase clinical flexibility and utility.

"Throughout Philips history of medical innovation and collaboration with healthcare providers, we have developed a deep understanding of our customers' needs and as a result, have created offerings that are simple to use and deliver clinical excellence," said Ian Farmer, senior vice president, nuclear medicine, for Philips Medical Systems. "Our systems are designed for both clinical and economic performance, to help our customers create and sustain a competitive advantage."

GEMINI PET/CT

Launched in November 2004, Philips GEMINI GXL PET/CT began commercial shipments earlier this month and has helped Philips enhance its position in the market. The system is now helping physicians better pinpoint small tumors with LOR (line of response) reconstruction and determine appropriate therapy. GEMINI GXL's new RapidResolve PET technology enables whole body oncology scans in 15 minutes with exceptional image quality.

At SNM, Philips will showcase new configurations for the GEMINI GXL product line, including a 64-slice CT configuration, designed to meet the most demanding multi-slice CT applications in cardiology and radiology, and mobile configurations for the GEMINI GXL 6- and 16-slice CT systems, which enable customers to offer state-of-the-art PET/CT imaging services to multiple sites.

"Patient motion is the main cause of image degradation in PET scanning, so quicker scans are ideal to provide better quality images and ensure that patients are more comfortable," said Carter S. Young, DO, FACR, chairman and medical director, Methodist Medical Center of Illinois and associate professor, University of Illinois, Peoria, Ill. "GEMINI GXL provides outstanding image quality and increased patient comfort with whole-body scanning in less than 15 minutes. This is the future. This is where cancer imaging is going."

"The GEMINI GXL PET/CT scanner has allowed us to increase our throughput, provide exquisite image registration with high-quality CT and extend our research capabilities with flexible list-mode acquisition procedures, all of which have not compromised image quality," said Francois Benard, M.D., FRCPC, associate professor, department of nuclear medicine and radiology, Universite de Sherbrooke, in Quebec, Canada. "Direct line-of-response (LOR) reconstruction is a major step forward to improve the detection of small lesions in whole-body clinical studies."

Precedence SPECT/CT

Launched at last year's SNM meeting, Precedence SPECT/CT is now helping to improve patient care at Baptist Hospital of Miami, the third U.S. system installation. Precedence offers high-end, fast-acquisition 16-slice CT. Philips unique imaging algorithms combine with 16-slice CT to facilitate myocardial perfusion imaging and coronary artery imaging (CTA).

"Precedence SPECT/CT is critically important at Baptist Hospital to provide quality care for our cardiac emergency department patients," said Jack A. Ziffer, M.D., Ph.D., chief of radiology, Baptist Hospital of Miami. "Combined nuclear perfusion data with coronary calcium assessment and coronary CT angiography capabilities will provide a complete diagnostic picture to our cardiac patients. Furthermore, the 16-slice CT system enables high-quality CT imaging that may augment the nuclear procedures to diagnose non-cardiac problems."

"Precedence is the only combined SPECT/CT system capable of performing both nuclear SPECT perfusion studies and coronary CT angiography procedures," said Warren R. Janowitz, M.D., medical director of nuclear medicine, Baptist Hospital of Miami. "The fusion of a patient's perfusion and coronary images may significantly improve their care. In addition, it gives quality attenuation corrected SPECT images and additional prognostic data from calcium scoring."

Additional Product Enhancements on Display at SNM

Philips will showcase its complete nuclear medicine portfolio at this year's SNM meeting. Product introductions include:

--JETStream Workspace -- Philips JETStream Workspace, the first fully integrated, personalized workflow management solution, is now available for general nuclear medicine. Designed to increase efficiency by consolidating all tasks into one workstation, it helps clinicians process with more speed, diagnose with confidence and accuracy, convey results to referring physicians faster and more conveniently, and run a practice more effectively.

--CardioMD -- Philips will display a streamlined and compact CardioMD gamma camera, equipped with a Windows-XP(TM) laptop acquisition workstation and three laptop-mounting options to maximize workflow flexibility and enable the system to fit into smaller rooms. The system's new design features make it even easier to add nuclear imaging services to the cardiology office. The system's VantagePro attenuation correction is the only proven attenuation correction technology with truncation compensation, designed to maximize diagnostic accuracy and clinical utility. This is the industry's only attenuation correction technique with published, comprehensive multi-center clinical validation.

For more information about these products, visit Philips at booth #1310 at the SNM annual meeting.

About Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE:PHG)(AEX:PHI) is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of EUR 30.3 billion in 2004. With activities in the three interlocking domains of healthcare, lifestyle and technology and 160,900 employees in more than 60 countries, it has market leadership positions in medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, color television sets, electric shavers, lighting and silicon system solutions. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.