Philips’ LumiGuide 3D medical device guidance solution wins ‘Best of the Best’ 2024 Red Dot Design Award

“This innovation not only revolutionizes instrument guidance in minimally-invasive procedures, but also aims to protect patients and medical staff." - Red Dot jury.

Jun 25, 2024 | 3 minute read

Every year, the international Red Dot annual design competition for product and industrial design, brand and communication design, and design concepts presents an array of awards in each industry category. Every year, Philips receives multiple such awards, and 2024 was no different. However, there is one accolade in each category that every company or brand hopes for – the Red Dot ‘Best of the Best’ award. And every so often, the winner is a truly game-changing design that has the potential to revolutionize how things are done. In the 2024 Red Dot Product Design Awards, Philips’ LumiGuide 3D medical device guidance solution received the Red Dot: Best of the Best award in the ‘Innovative Products’ metacategory.

From left to right: Femke van Belzen, Fabian Benedikter, Anne Stas, Inge Wagemakers, Volker Verschoor, Peter Skillman, Alessandra di Tullio, receiving the highest Red Dot distinction for 'Innovative Products', at the Red Dot awards ceremony in Essen, Germany (June 24th).

Philips LumiGuide

Usually during minimally-invasive surgeries, doctors have to rely on live X-ray imaging (fluoroscopy) to help them manipulate interventional devices such as catheters inside the patient’s body. But real-time X-ray fluoroscopy comes with radiation risks for both patients and physicians and only provides grayscale, 2D images of these devices. LumiGuide – powered by Philips’ unique Fiber Optic RealShape (FORS) technology – changes the game by allowing doctors to see their guidewires and catheters in 3D and color as they manipulate them inside the patient's body, from any angle, in real-time, and with minimal radiation. Philips’ FORS technology simplifies navigation in tortuous vessels (blood vessels that are twisted or winding). Using this advanced technology, complex cases such as aortic repair procedures can be done 37% faster and use 70% less X-ray imaging during the process [1][2]. It’s therefore no surprise that the Red Dot Design Award judges gave LumiGuide a ‘Best of the Best’ innovative product award. LumiGuide is Philips’ second-generation solution using FORS and works exclusively with the company’s compatible interventional systems, such as Azurion. The Philips FORS technology powering LumiGuide has already been used to assist in the treatment of almost 1000 patients [3].

Digital Radiography 7000 M mobile radiography solution

LumiGuide was not the only Philips medical imaging solution to receive an accolade in the 2024 Red Dot Design Awards. The company’s Digital Radiography 7000 M mobile radiography solution also received an award. Powered by its internal lithium-ion battery, the Radiography 7000 M can be wheeled up to a patient’s bedside where it is available for diagnostic imaging within a few seconds. Designed with maneuverability, workflow optimization, ease-of-use, patient centricity, reproducibility, and versatility in mind, the Radiography 7000 M is a workhorse solution for busy emergency department and routine bedside imaging, where X-rays remain the mainstay of diagnosis. Adorned with colorful friendly graphics, it is especially useful in pediatric care.

Innovation, Design, and Sustainability

LumiGuide and the Radiography 7000 M exemplify Philips’ approach to patient-centric innovation, which starts with the recognition and in-depth understanding of user needs and their relative importance. The company’s design teams then strictly adhere to three key innovation principles to maximize an innovation’s impact – focusing on creating scale, working backwards from customer needs, and co-creating solutions with customers. Sustainability, in terms of end-to-end carbon footprint (Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions) is built in from the outset, together with design for circularity (reuse, repair, and recycling). The result is user-friendly solutions that are easy to use, learn, and set up, integrate well into existing workflows, and are sympathetic to the needs of the planet.

“High-impact innovation must not only be founded on the voice of the customer, it must also be based on a continuous relationship with academic, clinical, and industrial partners to co-create it, and public-private partnerships to prove its effectiveness in real-world scenarios.” – Peter Skillman, Global Head of Design at Philips.

Philips’ health technology is not the only area in which the company applies these design principles. The Philips Experience Design team also helps Philips’ brand licensees to achieve the same high quality, attention to detail, and planet-conscious sustainability. In total, products and solutions sporting the Philips brand received 43 Red Dot awards in the 2024 competition.

The Red Dot Design Award is an annual international competition that recognizes excellence in design and business. With around 20,000 entries per year, it is one of the biggest design competitions in the world. For more information on the 2024 Red Dot Awards, visit www.red-dot.org