Philips Healthcare struggles in Q2

Philips Healthcare struggles in Q2
Sales by Philips Healthcare declined during the second quarter compared to the year earlier period, but showed a sequential increase compared with Q1. The increase was driven by modest growth outside the U.S. Overall growth at Customer Services was more than offset by lower sales at Clinical Care Systems, Healthcare Informatics (mainly Patient Monitoring) and Imaging Systems. Sales at Home Healthcare Solutions declined slightly.
 

The company’s EUR 158 million ($220.6 million) in Healthcare EBITA was EUR 30 million ($42 million) lower than in Q2 2008. Comparable sales declined 5% year-on-year, with softness in mature markets, in the North American market. This poor showing was partly offset by growth in emerging markets outside the U.S. Losses were most pronounce in Imaging Systems and Clinical Care Systems. Profitability remained strong at both Customer Services and Home Healthcare Solutions.

Overall sales by Royal Philips declined 19% during the second quarter compared with Q1 last year, reflecting continuing weakness due to the slumping global economy.

Toshiba sharpens Aplio images
Promising “unprecedented clarity and resolution,” Toshiba America Medical Systems this month will begin shipping Precision Imaging technology on its Aplio XG ultrasound system. Toshiba describes the software as “multi-resolution signal processing technology,” processing data line-by-line along with information from adjacent lines. Traditional ultrasound systems acquire images line-by-line only and do not consider information from adjacent lines, according to the company. The new software improves the definition of the structure in the images, providing more detail and minimizing noise and clutter, according to Toshiba. Precision Imaging is designed to enhance subtle tissue differences and small structures, showing contrast boundaries between tissue and lesions, visualizing vessel walls, and demonstrating difficult to image areas. It is particularly useful when imaging breast lesions, superficial regions, small parts, the abdomen, spleen, liver and thyroid, according to the company.