The Philips Affiniti 70, is a high-end shared service ultrasound machine that was developed in 2014 from the premium Epiq 7. The Affiniti 70 looks nearly identical to the Epiq 7 and 5 and offers many of the same features like single crystal PureWave transducers. The Affiniti 70 also has many of the same technologies as the Epiq series, including the amazing QLAB onboard quantification set and ShareWave elastography. The Philips Affiniti 70 is unique in the high-end price category in offering ShearWave. As a shared service ultrasound machine the Affiniti 70 excels at cardiology as well as women’s health, vascular and radiology applications. Philips is most well known for its cardiac imaging superiority over other brands, but the Philips Affiniti 70 is also amazingly feature rich with excellent image quality at its price level. Doctors that like the Affiniti 70, but don’t need the PureWave transducers or ShearWave Elastography should consider the less expensive Affiniti 50 instead.

The Philips ClearVue 350 is an entry-level economy shared service ultrasound machine that replaces the HD6 and HD7. It is tiny, with a refined user interface and hardware that is far easier to service and maintain. The Philips ClearVue 350 differs from the more expensive 550 only by the articulating monitor arm.

The Philips ClearVue 850 is a midrange 4D OB/GYN and shared service ultrasound machine with 19″ LCD color monitor and fully articulating arms. As a representative Philips mid-range system, the Clear Vue series integrates Philips Microfine 2D focusing technology. The Philips ClearVue 850 has been introduced based on the same architecture of ClearVue 650, but added adjustable height function and strain elastography as unique features. As other ClearVue series, ClearVue 850 strengthens its image quality by Philips patent technologies — iSCAN for grayscale, Color Doppler, pulsed wave Doppler, AutoSCAN, SonoCT, and XRES. With Philips ClearVue 650, the Philips ClearVue 850 is one of the mid-range 4D options with 4D convex, 4D transvaginal, and Auto Face Reveal, iSlice, Fetal STIC.

“CX” stands for Compact eXtream and the Philips CX30, like the more powerful CX50 is the most portable Philips product to date. The Philips CX30 offers a lower price alternative to the CX50 by lowering the number and power of the probes offered. None of the purwave probes from the CX50 are available to the CX30.

The Philips Epiq 5 is a premium shared service ultrasound machine from Philips. It offers Purewave single crystal probes, a compact and lightweight design and superior ergonomics and workflow. The Epiq 5 replaces the older Philips iU22 without xMatrix. The Epiq 5 has less probe options and features than the more expensive Epiq 7. All the Epiq and Affiniti ultrasound machines look visually very similar and use the same monitor and huge tablet like touchscreen for navigation.

The Philips HD5 is an entry level economy shared service ultrasound machine. It has a flexible console that borrows many of the smooth workflow and ergonomic advantages of more expensive Philips units. The HD5 only offers a few probes, but has the option for full cardiac imaging in the most economical package Philips has ever made. Medical professionals that would like the reliability and features of a Philips unit but because of price constraints might be considering a less reliable brand should consider the HD5.

The Philips HD7 xe is an economy shared service ultrasound machine that provided the best low-end cardiac imaging available. The Philips HD7 xe added an articulating monitor arm and Xres to the HD7.

The Philips iE33 is a premium level cardiovascular ultrasound machine that was launched in 2004 and has been revised and improved over the past decade. In 2010 Philips launched the iE33 xMatrix, a major update that supported the brand new xMatrix transducers with thousands of elements each and capable not only of extraordinary image quality, but also viewing images in 2 planes in real time as well as 4D without the need for a mechanical probe. The Philips iE33 xMatrix also has the powerful QLAB quantification package and a host of other cardiovascular specific software enhancements that speed and add diagnostic confidence to standard cardiac and vascular exams. The Epiq 7 has replaced the iE33, but as it has over a decade of being the cardiovascular gold standard it remains one of the most popular ultrasound machines in demand. Those looking for similar power and features at the premium level who focus on OB/GYN or radiology should consider instead the Philips iU22 which looks identical to the iE33 except for one touchscreen while the iE33 has two.

The Philips iU22 is a premium shared service ultrasound machine that offers the best image quality possible through xMatrix transducers that offer the best aspects of single-crystal and 4D transducers. The iU22 offers the top of the line image quality and features available for Radiology, OB/GYN, Cardiac, Vascular and even specialty imaging like MSK, Pediatric, and Elastography. The iU22 has been replaced by the Epiq 5, but still maintains top of the line image quality. For cardio vascular specific medical professionals the nearly identical iE33 would be a better fit. The iU22 was launched in 2004 and has a long history of improvements and revisions that have made it the gold standard for over a decade.