Philips and Imricor Launch Cardiac Interventional MR Lab Solution
Royal Philips and Imricor Medical Systems, a Burnsville, MN-based pioneer of MR-compatible products for interventional MR procedures, 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 with Imricor’s portfolio of iMR systems and consumables, enabling an MR-guided workflow for cardiac intervention without compromising on MR field strength. The solution is built on Philips’ BlueSeal helium-free MRI technology, reducing siting complexity and enabling installation closer to cardiology departments.
Cardiac arrhythmias affect millions of people worldwide, and catheter ablation is an established treatment for many complex cases. However, 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 transformed cardiac diagnosis by enabling visualization of 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.
The iMR lab solution combines Philips’ Cardiac MR Suite, featuring SmartHeart AI-powered cardiac planning and advanced cardiac imaging applications, with 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.
Ioannis Panagiotelis, PhD, Business Leader of Magnetic Resonance at Philips, said the company’s ambition is not only to advance what clinicians can see with MRI but also what they can do with it. Panagiotelis noted that Philips has a long history of helping clinicians perform image-guided procedures with confidence, and that MRI can play an even greater role in providing care. Panagiotelis added that this new iMR lab solution, enabled through the collaboration with Imricor, expands the role of cardiac MRI from diagnosis into the treatment environment, and that cardiac electrophysiology is just the beginning, representing an important step in Philips’ strategy to advance MRI across the care continuum.
Steve Wedan, Founder and CEO of Imricor, said 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 the company calls an iMR lab. Wedan noted that the collaboration with Philips has always been driven by this shared vision, and with the combined iMR lab solution, that vision becomes a reality today. Wedan added that pairing Philips’ 1.5T MR platform with Imricor’s portfolio of iMR systems and interventional tools creates the world’s first state-of-the-art high-performance iMR lab solution, and that the company believes the future is about advanced image guidance for therapies and interventions.
The iMR lab solution will be showcased at ESC Congress 2026 and is commercially available immediately in CE-marked markets and, in some configurations, the United States. Further Imricor configurations are expected to become available in the U.S. and additional markets, subject to regulatory clearances.
