Philips is launching a new clinical trial aimed at reducing the amount of radiation used during coronary procedures, with an ultralow X-ray dose technique that aims to cut exposures to patients and providers in the cath lab.
The randomized, unblinded study, named Radiqal, will look to enroll more than 800 patients in the U.S. and Europe. It was announced during the annual EuroPCR interventional cardiology conference being held this week in Paris.
“The ability to reduce radiation exposure without compromising procedural performance is a key priority in interventional cardiology,” said principal investigator Javier Escaned, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of cardiology at the Hospital Clínico San Carlos in Madrid. “It is also important to achieve high-quality angiograms when using diluted contrast media as part of ultra-low contrast procedures.”
The trial will aim to reduce X-ray exposure by 50% over the current lowest setting available on Philips’ Azurion image-guided therapy systems equipped with ClarityIQ technology—the company’s real-time motion compensation and image processing platform that has already demonstrated the ability to reduce patient radiation doses by about two-thirds in certain cardiology cases.
“Interventional cardiologists rely on low-dose, high-quality imaging for confident decision-making throughout multiple procedures each day. Also for patients, especially those with high BMI or with complex conditions requiring repeat interventions, minimizing radiation exposure is increasingly critical,” said Darshan Doshi, M.D., medical and clinical head of Philips’ image-guided therapy division and an interventional cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Earlier this month, at the scientific sessions of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) held in Washington, D.C., representatives from industry, including Philips, plus hospitals, government liaisons and other medical organizations—including the American College of Cardiology, the American Society for Echocardiography, the Heart Rhythm Society, the Society for Interventional Radiology and the Society for Vascular Surgery—put forward a joint statement calling for mandatory radiation protection measures in the cath lab.
Interventional cardiologists have long reported higher rates of specific cancers and cataracts as well as reproductive and pregnancy-related risks due to occupational radiation exposure—such as tumors disproportionately developing in the left hemisphere of the brain, on the side that typically faces the X-ray machine during a procedure. At the same time, wearing heavy lead aprons for hours can cause chronic spine pain and other musculoskeletal injuries.
SCAI and the other organizations said the adoption of new technologies to reduce radiation exposure has been slow due to their upfront and non-reimbursable costs as well as outdated interpretations of federal regulations.
Elsewhere at EuroPCR 2025, Philips began rolling out its 3D intracardiac echocardiography catheter to the continent. Previously available in the U.S., the VeriSight Pro system delivers real-time imaging from inside the heart’s chambers without requiring the use of general anesthesia.
The three-millimeter catheter is designed for procedures such as transcatheter valve repair and left atrial appendage closure, which typically employ transesophageal echocardiography with an ultrasound probe placed down the throat.