Philips Unveils Industry's First Networked Patient Monitor/Defibrillator.

New Technology Combines Networked Patient Monitor and Advanced Life Support Capabilities to Enhance Patient Safety and Simplify in-Hospital Transports

ANDOVER, Mass. -- Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) today 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 will be showcasing the HeartStart MRx at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual meeting, taking place from February 26 - March 1 in New Orleans, La.

About Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is a global leader in healthcare, lifestyle and technology, delivering products, services and solutions through the brand promise of "sense and simplicity." Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 121,700 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of USD 34 billion (EUR 27 billion) in 2006, the company is a market leader in medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring systems, energy efficient lighting solutions, personal care and home appliances, as well as consumer electronics. News from Philips is located at ww.philips.com/newscenter.