Enhancing patient and staff experience in CT

The Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Medical Center is an acute hospital with over 1,000 staff members located in Itabashi-ku, Tokyo. It focuses on treating illnesses common among senior citizens, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and dementia. The Center offers a full range of medical care, with the exception of pediatrics and obstetrics.

Mr. Yutaka Suzuki (Section Chief, Radiology Department, Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatic Medical Center), has always wanted to reduce patients’ stress to have more accurate test outcomes. Traditional approaches didn’t yield the effects Mr. Suzuki hoped for. Then he discovered Philips’ Ambient Experience. The Philips Healthcare Experience Solutions team showed him a whole new way to help patients with their stress.

The Philips Healthcare Experience Solutions team advised to install the IQon Spectral CT with Ambient Experience the next time the Center updated its CT equipment.

CT scans take less time than MRI scans, but even that shorter time can be stressful for patients. The experience of being inside a huge, intimidating machine in frigid temperatures optimized for tests, takes a mental and physical toll. Ambient Experience helps alleviate this stress, giving patients and staff a sense of togetherness and allowing for more efficient scans.

Ambient Experience’s combination of soft lighting, sound and projection of for example animals or landscapes from around the world, is highly effective at getting patients to relax. The images also facilitate communication by giving patients and staff something to talk about. This allows for more efficient tests and reduces the burden on staff, helping them find the best solutions for their patients’ needs.