Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG, AEX:PHI) has been recognized with eight healthcare awards in the highly prestigious iF product design competition 2009, making it the biggest category winner ever in iF's history. The iF awards recognize high quality design across a range of criteria including degree of innovativeness, functionality, workmanship, design quality and ergonomics. This year 2,808 products from 1025 contestants in 39 countries competed for one of the coveted awards, which will be presented at a ceremony in March. Of these a total of 802 product awards were selected. Philips Design was honoured with 22 iF awards, seven of which were in healthcare alone.
The five Philips healthcare products which won iF awards are the Kitten Scanner, a next-generation automated external defibrillator not yet available for sale, the Xper Patient Table, the CX50 Ultrasound system, the Bright View SPECT and a CPR Meter which was co-designed with the Laerdal Design Department. Awards were also given for two products which Philips Design has created for other companies; the DenTek Dental Repair Products and the Delmedica Xhalo.
Grant Davidson, vice president heading Design for Healthcare at Philips Design commented, "The iF product design awards are highly prestigious and any product that wins one has to meet the highest standards of great design. To have so many of our innovative healthcare products recognized in this way is therefore extremely exciting and shows how we as a company are using our insights and expertise to create solutions that improve people's health and well-being."
These awards confirm the value of Philips Design's healthcare consultancy. Launched last year to consolidate the company's expertise in designing healthcare solutions into one team, Philips Design's healthcare consultancy offers independent and objective healthcare consultancy services directly to customers. In cooperation with Philips Healthcare, the Philips Design consultancy delivers fresh insights resulting from research and provides concepts and design direction with implementation of, for instance, an entire Ambient Experience suite, complete with CT or MR. As the branding of healthcare facilities becomes increasingly important all over the world, Philips Design is just as likely to deliver an identity concept that covers everything from communications (e.g. promotional material, signage, web presence) to the way in which a patient should feel during his/her stay. Its priority is to always offer healthcare design solutions that improve the quality of people's lives in as many ways as possible.
The awarded Philips healthcare products include:
- The Kitten Scanner helps teach children about what happens during a Computed Tomography (CT) examination. The device is placed in the waiting room and uses interactive role play and storytelling to explain the different steps of the procedure to children to help reduce their fear and anxiety.
- The Xper Patient Table for cardiovascular X-ray systems can position the patient for optimal image acquisition. The design allows patient comfort, safety and usability to be maximized.
- The compact CX 50 Ultrasound System is designed to meet the needs of cardiologists for clear diagnostic data at the bedside. It combines the image quality expected of a traditional, premium, full-size ultrasound system with the convenience of portability.
- BrightView SPECT variable angle gamma camera is used in nuclear medicine. The camera can help provide physicians with information about the functional status and viability of different organs and tissues.
Additional awards to Philips Design for:
- DenTek - Dental Repair Products provide a temporary remedy for lost fillings, inlays and crowns, until a dentist can provide a permanent solution. The kits consist of both repair material and applicators.
- Delmedica - Xhalo is a reusable handheld device for asthmatics to predict if an attack is imminent. Usage is intuitive with led lighting used together with audible sounds to indicate when to start and finish blowing. Xhalo is based on the link between exhaled breath temperature and early signs of viral infection before they develop.
Information on all Philips iF award winning products can be found at www.design.philips.com
Related news articles:
- Philips Healthcare's Profile
About Royal Philips Electronics
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is a diversified Health and Well-being company, focused on improving peoples lives through timely innovations. As a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand promise of "sense and simplicity". Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 121,000 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of EUR 26 billion in 2008, the company is a market leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as lifestyle products for personal well-being and pleasure with strong leadership positions in flat TV, male shaving and grooming, portable entertainment and oral healthcare. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.
About the iF product design awards
The iF product design awards are extremely prestigious and their significance is recognized throughout the design world and beyond. More than 20 internationally recognized jurors consisting of designers, entrepreneurs engage in critical discussions and debate to select the winning products. Since its inauguration in 1953, the iF design award has been an enduring symbol of product and service quality. Award winning products are featured on the iF website from this month (January) and in the iF design exhibition 2009 which rill run from March 3 2009 until August, during which time they expect 300,000 international visitors.