Philips 1.5T MR (Photo: Philips)
Aug. 28, 2026 — Royal Philips and Imricor Medical Systems have announced a new Interventional MR (iMR) lab solution for Philips 1.5T MR. The first commercially available configuration* combines Philips’ 1.5T MRI platform and Imricor's portfolio of iMR systems and consumables, enabling an MR-guided workflow for cardiac intervention, without compromising on MR field strength.
Greater Tissue Insight
Cardiac arrhythmias affect millions of people worldwide, and catheter ablation is an established and increasingly utilized treatment for many complex cardiac arrhythmias. Yet today, these procedures continue to rely primarily on X-ray fluoroscopy, which provides only indirect visualization of soft tissue while exposing patients and clinical teams to ionizing radiation.
MRI has already transformed cardiac diagnosis by enabling clinicians to visualize cardiac anatomy and tissue in exceptional detail. Bringing that same level of tissue insight into intervention has the potential to help physicians guide therapy more precisely, assess treatment response during procedures and identify potential therapy gaps before a patient leaves the procedure room — all within a radiation-free work environment of an iMR.
"Our ambition is not only to advance what clinicians can see with MRI, but also what they can do with it," said Ioannis Panagiotelis, PhD, Business Leader, Magnetic Resonance at Philips. "Philips has a long history of helping clinicians perform image-guided procedures with confidence, and we believe MRI can play an even greater role in providing care. With this new iMR lab solution, enabled through our collaboration with Imricor, we're expanding the role of cardiac MRI from diagnosis into the treatment environment."
Panagiotelis added, "Cardiac electrophysiology is just the beginning. This iMR lab solution represents an important step in Philips' strategy to advance MRI across the care continuum, creating a platform that can expand into additional clinical areas while helping clinicians deliver the best possible care for their patients."
iMR Built on Cardiac 1.5T MRI Platform
The iMR lab solution combines Philips' 1.5T MRI platform with Imricor's portfolio of MR-compatible systems and consumables to create a complete, connected environment for MR-guided cardiac intervention – marking the next milestone in the companies' long-standing collaboration to bring MR-guided cardiac intervention into routine clinical practice.
The first commercially available configuration includes Philips' Cardiac MR Suite, featuring SmartHeart AI-powered cardiac planning and advanced cardiac imaging applications alongside Imricor's NorthStar iMR mapping and guidance system, Advantage-MR EP Recorder/Stimulator and Vision-MR family of electrophysiology catheters**. Together, these technologies enable physicians to visualize cardiac anatomy and arrhythmia substrate, actively track catheters, perform electroanatomical mapping, assess lesion formation and evaluate treatment response throughout procedures within Philips' 1.5T MR environment.
For hospitals, the iMR lab solution provides a turnkey platform for MR-guided cardiac intervention, bringing together advanced imaging, intelligent workflows and MR-compatible interventional technologies. The solution is built on Philips' BlueSeal helium-free MRI technology***, reducing siting complexity and enabling installation closer to cardiology departments, helping support adoption today while establishing a scalable foundation for future iMR-guided procedures.
“With interventional MR, the idea is not to move procedures into diagnostic MRI suites, but rather to bring MR imaging into the procedure room, a room we call an iMR lab," said Steve Wedan, Founder and CEO of Imricor. “Our collaboration with Philips has always been driven by this shared vision, and with our combined iMR lab solution, that vision becomes a reality today. Pairing Philips' world-class 1.5T MR platform with Imricor's exclusive portfolio of advanced iMR systems and interventional tools creates the world’s first state-of-the-art high-performance iMR lab solution. We believe the future is about advanced image guidance for therapies and interventions, and the future is here now."
The iMR lab solution is being showcased at ESC Congress 2026 and is commercially available immediately in CE-marked markets and, in some configurations, the U.S. Further Imricor configurations are expected to become available in the U.S. and additional markets, subject to regulatory clearances.
*Philips issued a Third-Party Product Compatibility Declaration for Imricor's interventional MRI (iMR) equipment and consumables.
**NorthStar and the Vision-MR Diagnostic Catheter are commercially available in the U.S. Other Imricor products are not yet cleared/approved for sale in the U.S.
***Helium-free operations. 7 liters of helium is permanently enclosed in the cryogenic circuit.
August 17, 2026 
