At Philips Cambridge Research Center, steps away from where the Green Line ends at Lechmere, big things are happening.
Gone are the days when Philips was simply a "TV and lightbulb company," as head of Philips Research Joseph Frassica put it. Several years ago, Philips chose to sell off nearly all of its other assets and focus exclusively on becoming a health care company.
We're now beginning to see the fruits of that decision.
On Wednesday, Philips opened up its research labs to members of the press for the first time to showcase four of its inventions. In one room, researchers combined cameras with machine learning software to measure heart and breathing rates without ever touching a patient. In another, the clinical director for Philips' Genomics for Infectious Disease Group demonstrated a software suite that allows infections specialists to track—and stop—outbreaks of hospital-acquired infections.
Another room was set up as a mock surgical room where doctors, aided by an AR-enabled headset called the HoloLens, could perform image-guided procedures. Still another room displayed a possible future for neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), ones that bring physicians, nurses and parents into the mix and create a more uplifting physical environment than the typically dark, closed-off NICUs currently in use by hospitals.
Click or swipe through the gallery below for a firsthand look at the inventions.
