Philips showcased its latest innovations at Arab Health 2009

The company also highlighted its substantial growth in order intake for its healthcare products and services in the Middle East in 2008, which was up by 24 percent on the previous year.

"The solutions we're showcasing at this year's Arab Health all share a common feature - they're designed from the outset to meet the needs of patients and clinicians," said Louis Hakim, vice president and CEO Philips Middle East. "Our continued success in the region is due to our approach of innovating alongside our customers to provide meaningful solutions to their needs."

On show for the first time anywhere in the world is the HD9, Philips' new ultrasound system focused on helping clinicians deliver high quality care for a full range of women's health needs. The HD9 system combines advanced imaging technology, including 3D and 4D capabilities, in an easy-to-use and reliable system for obstetrics, gynecology, and breast imaging.

On a special booth at the show Philips will showcase its solutions in a series of scenarios specifically created for the Dubai event on the themes of 'care in the home', 'care on the move', 'care in the ambulance', and 'care in the hospital'.

Care in the home

The care facilities people have at home play an ever more important role in aiding independent living and improving quality of life for at-risk individuals. Respironics, a leader in the provision of innovative sleep and respiratory products, joined Philips in March 2008 and offers a wide range of solutions from serving the needs of respiratory impaired patients in the home to the treatment of sleep disorders.

Care on the move

When someone suffers a cardiac arrest defibrillation needs to be prompt. For every minute that passes the chances of survival decrease by 14%. Research also shows that applying a controlled shock within five minutes of collapse provides the best possible outcome. The Philips HeartStart FRx Defibrillator is designed for easy use, is rugged and reliable for professional use in every working environment.

Care in the ambulance

An estimated 17 million people die of cardiovascular disease, particularly heart attacks and strokes, every year. Philips can help to reduce the time from discovery of a heart attack to treatment to 90 minutes, the limit recommended by experts, by enabling hospitals to better organize resources throughout the treatment procedure, starting before patients enter their doors.

Care in the hospital

Philips CareServant is designed to make a patient's stay in hospital more pleasant and to potentially assist healthcare clinicians. The CareServant displays a range of information, including visiting hours, news messages and opening hours of hospital departments, among many things. In addition, the device provides applications that can assist clinicians, such as showing of information films relating to a particular treatment or the retrieval of patient information.

Also on show for the first time at Arab Health 2009 is the 'kitten scanner', a child-friendly device that is both educational and fun. The prospect of an enormous scanner can be particularly frightening for a child, so Philips' kitten scanner prepares children for the full sized machine through play. The child can 'scan' a toy by placing it on the miniature exam table and sliding it into the kitten scanner to learn why their animal is ill from an on-screen animation. By teaching the child what to expect, the kitten scanner helps to reduce the child's fears about their own exam. A relaxed child is less likely to need sedation or repeat exams, which helps keep radiation doses to a minimum.

Philips has sponsored Arab Health for the last eight years and this year is also a platinum sponsor of the Diagnostic Imaging conference and gold sponsor of the Interventional conference.