LINKOPING, Sweden, April 2, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Integration of the Philips speech recognition program, Speech Magic(TM) into Sectra's Radiology IT Systems and the development of a Swedish Radiology ConText will help hospitals reduce costs.
Royal Philips Electronics (AEX: PHI) (NYSE:PHG) and the Swedish medical IT company Sectra (XSSE: SECT), today announced the signing of a partnership agreement to integrate Philips speech recognition into Sectra's Radiology IT System for the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish languages. Furthermore, Sectra will assist Philips in developing a Swedish Radiology ConText (vocabulary) for the Philips speech recognition technology SpeechMagic(TM). The ConText will help Swedish radiologists significantly increase efficiency in radiology departments.
While Philips will provide the technology and know-how for professional speech recognition, Sectra will bring in its extensive knowledge of the Swedish radiology market. The speech recognition module will be integrated into Sectra's radiology IT systems. SpeechMagic(TM) transforms spoken words into written text, allowing radiologists to dictate reports directly into the patient's record. By saving time and energy on typing, correction and approval, radiologists using SpeechMagic(TM) claim a 60% efficiency increase and a dramatic decrease in report turnaround times.
Marcel Wassink, Managing Director, Philips Speech Processing, said: "With years of experience and a strong market position in Scandinavia, Sectra is an ideal partner to support us in developing a tailored speech recognition solution for the Swedish market."
Ulf Sjodin, Marketing Manager of Sectra Scandinavia AB added: "Our Radiology IT solutions together with SpeechMagic(TM) and the Swedish Radiology ConText is state-of-the-art technology, which will enable our clients to handle an increasing number of patients using existing resources."
With 21 recognition languages, including specific Radiology ConTexts in 11 recognition languages, SpeechMagic(TM) is the only speech recognition technology which supports the majority of European languages. More than 6,000 installations in hospitals, medical practices and legal firms have made SpeechMagic(TM) the most successful professional speech recognition technology in the world.
About Royal Philips Electronics
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of EUR 31.8 billion in 2002. It is a global leader in color television sets, lighting, electric shavers, medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, and one-chip TV products. Its 170,000 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, components, semiconductors, and medical systems. Philips is quoted on the NYSE (symbol: PHG), London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges. News about Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter
About Sectra
Sectra is one of today's major diagnostic imaging providers with more than 350 installations worldwide. The Sweden-based company operates through partners in most of the world, but delivers directly to end- customers in some markets. Sectra's core business is to deliver top-of- the-line high-availability, robust enterprise diagnostic imaging for 24/7 operation. In Sweden and Norway, which are currently the countries with the largest penetration of diagnostic imaging systems in the world, Sectra holds a dominant market leadership with more than 50 percent of all film-free installations. The company has its largest number of installed systems in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark but has also, through partnerships, systems installed in most major countries in Europe, the Far East and North America. For more information, visit www.sectra.com.
For further information, please contact: Philips Speech Processing Tel: +43 1 601 01 2879 Fax: +43 1 601 01 4145 Email: armin.scheuer@philips.com www.speechrecognition.philips.com Sectra Dr Torbjorn Kronander, President +46 705 23 52 27 to-kro@sectra.se Dr Jan-Olof Bruer, President and CEO +46 13 23 52 09 job@sectra.se Visit our website http://www.sectra.com
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