Shared Medical Services and Nebraska Medicine Collaborate to Deploy Philips Mobile MR 5300 with BlueSeal, the First of Its Kind in the United States

Cottage Grove, WI – November 4, 2024 – Shared Medical Services, Inc. (SMS) and Nebraska Medicine are proud to announce the deployment of the Philips Mobile MR 5300 BlueSeal magnet. The MR 5300 with BlueSeal technology is designed to provide revolutionary, helium-free MR imaging capabilities in a mobile format, increasing access to care with advanced medical diagnostics for communities in both rural and urban areas. Philips was the first company to introduce helium-free operations in MR scanners in 2018, with nearly 2 million liters of helium saved.

"We're excited to partner with Philips and Nebraska Medicine to deploy the first Mobile MR 5300 in the US," said Maureen Kenney, President of Shared Medical Services. "Introducing helium-free MR technology into the SMS fleet presents a significant opportunity. The streamlined operations, combined with maintaining the highest level of diagnostic confidence, create a true win-win scenario."

Philips, a global leader in health technology, developed the MR 5300 with the latest in AI technology and sustainability in mind, delivering a better patient and staff experience that is also better for the environment.  Philips BlueSeal technology only uses 7 liters of helium, without the need for refills. The addition of  Smart Workflow AI- technology dramatically reduces the steps needed to complete an MR exam – it offers guided patient set-up in under a minute and technology that accelerates MR scans by up to 50%.

“Our system provides superior image quality in a compact, mobile footprint, helping to increase diagnostic confidence for clinicians while expanding quality access and better care to more patients,” said Ioannis Panagiotelis, PhD, Global Business Leader of MR at Philips. “The MR 5300 can simplify and automate the most complex clinical and operational tasks, increasing uptime, and ultimately lead to a better staff experience. In turn, this allows them to focus on what matters most – the patient.”

Nebraska Medicine, a nationally recognized health system, will be the first to bring the Mobile MR 5300 into its clinical operations. Samantha Palensky, Radiology Operations Manager at Nebraska Medicine, highlighted the immediate impact on patient services, saying, “We’re excited to be partnering with Shared Medical Services on our new MRI mobile, the MR 5300, providing cutting-edge services to increase our patient capacity and decrease the pressure on our current MRI magnets in-house.” She added, “We were excited to work with SMS as they were able to meet our demand for a quick turnaround of the new Philips MR, giving us continuity across all of our magnets for our technologists, thus increasing patient satisfaction and capacity for patients to have their scans done sooner.”