The Philips Affiniti 50, is a midrange shared service ultrasound machine that was developed in 2014 from the premium Epiq 7. The Affiniti 50 looks nearly identical to the more expensive Affiniti 70 and offers many of the same features. The Affiniti 50 also has many of the same technologies as the Epiq series, including the amazing QLAB onboard quantification set. The main selling point of the Philips Affiniti 50 is how many features it shares with more expensive units from Philips. If you don’t need single crystal probes, or Shearwave elastography then the Affiniti 50 offers a much less expensive option. Medical professionals that need these cutting edge technologies should consider the Affiniti 70. As a shared service ultrasound machine the Affiniti 50 excels at cardiology as well as women’s health, vascular and radiology applications. The ergonomics and workflow of the Affiniti 50 are excellent, and the image quality is a significant step up from the less expensive ClearVue series.

Description

Overview

Applications training for Philips Affiniti 50
Our on-staff sonographer can provide onsite applications at a set price plus travel costs.

Service for Philips Affiniti 50
Free technical support is available during installation and over the course of the standard limited warranty. Technical support is available after the warranty period at an hourly cost per issue.

Maintenance for Philips Affiniti 50
Ultrasound Supply recommends the use of a surge protector along with a dedicated power outlet. Probes should be disinfected after every use with a disinfectant wipe proven not to damage the lens.

Philips Affiniti 50 Dimensions & Weight
Height: (adjustable, maximum) 1626 mm (64 in), (minimum) 1422 mm (56 in)
Width: 572 mm (22.5 in)
Depth: 983 mm (38.7 in)
Weight: (no peripherals) 83.6 kg (184.4 lbs.), approx. 325 lbs. with packaging

Philips Affiniti 50 Specifications
Powerful distributed multi-core processing architecture
Up to 4,718,592 total digital channels
Image presentation: Depth from 1 cm to 30 cm (transducer-dependent)
Up to 280 dB digital broadband acoustic beamforming

Philips Affiniti 50 Electrical Power
Voltage: 100V-240V
Frequency 50/60 Hz
Power consumption: < 289 VA depending on system configuration

Revisions
Philips Affiniti 50 Revisions
Philips first launched the Affiniti 50 in 2014 as their new midrange shared service ultrasound machine, replacing the older HD11xe. As of 2016, the Affiniti 50 has not yet had a major revision, and only minor software updates have been released. The Affiniti series has had one of the most trouble-free launches in Philips history, being built from what was learned in the first year of fixes for the premium Epiq line.

Revisions of the Philips Affiniti 50
Philips Affiniti 50 (Rev 1.0)

Common configurations of the Affiniti 50
Philips Affiniti 50 with 3 transducers
This is a General imaging (GI) and Women’s health configuration

C6-2 Convex

C9-4v Endovaginal

L12-4 Linear

Philips Affiniti 50 with 2 transducers
This is a Cardiovascular configuration

S4-2 Cardiac Sector

L12-4 Linear

Probes
Philips Affiniti 50 Probes / Transducers
Endocavitary C9-4v [ 4 – 9 MHz ] 128 elements, 10mmR, 181° field of view
Endocavitary C10-4ec [ 4 – 10 MHz ] 128 elements, 8mmR, 147° field of view
Biplane Endocavitary BP10-5ec [ 5 – 10 MHz ] 96 elements, 8.8mmR, 150° field of view

Convex C8-5 [ 5 – 8 MHz ] 128 elements, 14mmR, 122° field of view
Convex C6-2 [ 2 – 6 MHz ] 128 elements, 10mmR, 163° field of view

4D Convex V6-2 [ 2 – 6 MHz ] 192 elements, 55mmR, 100° x 85° volume field of view
4D Endocavitary 3D9-3v [ 3 – 9 MHz ] 128 elements, 26.1mm, 156° x 85° volume field of view
4D Linear VL13-5 [ 5 – 13 MHz ] 192 elements, 38.4mm, 38 mm x 30° volume field of view

Linear L18-5 [ 5 – 18 MHz ] 288 elements, 38.9mm, ultra-fine pitch
Intraoperative Linear L15-7io [ 7 – 15 MHz ] 128 elements, 23mm
Linear L12-5 50 [ 5 – 12 MHz ] 256 elements, 50mm, fine pitch
Linear L12-4 [ 4 – 12 MHz ] 128 elements, 34mm, fine angle steering

Cardiac Sector S4-2 [ 2 – 4 MHz ] 80 elements, 20.3mm
Pediatric Cardiac Sector S8-3 [ 3 – 8 MHz ] 96 elements, 15.4mm
Neonatal Cardiac Sector S12-4 [ 4 – 12 MHz ] 96 elements, 9.78mm

Pediatric TEE transesophegeal S7-3t [ 3 – 7 MHz ] 48 elements, 5mm
xMATRIX TEE transesophegeal X7-2t [ 2 – 7 MHz ] 2,500 elements (No 4D available!)

Pedoff (CW Transducer) D5cwc [ 5 MHz ] Deep venous and arterial applications, non-imaging
Pedoff (CW Transducer) D2cwc [ 2 MHz ] Adult cardiology applications, non-imaging
Pedoff (PW Transducer) D2tcd [ 2 MHz ] Transcranial Doppler applications, non-imaging

Advanced Affiniti 50 Transducers
The Philips Affiniti 50 supports a number of advanced transducer options despite being in the midrange price category. The set of available probes is almost identical to the Affiniti 70 with the lack of single crystal transducers being the main difference. The Affiniti 50 has three mechanical 4D probes including the [ 2 – 6 MHz ] V6-2 4D convex, the [ 3 – 9 MHz ] 3D9-3v 4D endocavitary and the [ 5 – 13 MHz ] VL13-5 4D linear probe.

The Affiniti 50 also supports two transesophegeal or TEE probes, the [ 3 – 7 MHz ] S7-3t pediatric and the [ 2 – 7 MHz ] X7-2t adult. The X7-2t is an xMatrix transducer but on the Affiniti 50 it only functions in 2D mode. The Affiniti 70, Epiq line and the CX50 however can use the full xPlane and 4D functions of the X7-2t. The Philips Affiniti 50 also has the [ 5 – 10 MHz ] BP10-5ec biplane endocavitary probe that allows scanning in 2 planes without moving the transducer. Another specialty transducer is the [ 7 – 15 MHz ] L15-7io intraoperative linear, also known as a “hockey stick” probe for it’s distinctive shape that allows it to fit into tight surgical applications or small parts scanning.

Popular Philips Affiniti 50 Probes
The popular probes for the Affiniti 50 are several thousand dollars less expensive than the popular single crystal probes of the Affiniti 70. The [ 2 – 6 MHz ] C6-2 is the most popular convex probe for the Affiniti 50 while the [ 4 – 9 MHz ] C9-4v is the most popular endovaginal. The [ 4 – 12 MHz ] L12-4 is the most popular linear on the Affiniti 50 because it is affordable, and strong in both vascular and MSK imaging. For cardiac scanning the [ 2 – 4 MHz ] S4-2 sector probe is the most commonly selected.

Competitors
How the Affiniti 50 compares with other Philips systems
The Philips Affiniti 50 was launched in 2014 as the successor to the immensely popular HD11xe. The Affiniti 50 improves upon the HD11xe with a 21.5” monitor compared to 17”, a touchscreen for navigation, improved processor speed and more transducers. The Affiniti 50 was designed from the Epiq series and looks very similar to them, being only smaller in the size of the lower body of the ultrasound machine. The monitor, touchscreen and keyboard are identical to the Epiq line of systems. The Affiniti 70 is positioned just above the Affiniti 50 in price and includes Shearwave elastography, single crystal probes, and an articulated monitor arm. The ClearVue 850 is positioned just below the Affiniti 50 in price and features but uses a completely different probe set and was built from a completely different, more economical platform.

Philips Affiniti 50 vs Affiniti 70
The Affiniti 50 and 70 were launched at the same time and look virtually identical on the outside, with only a minor color difference in the main body. The Affiniti 70 is positioned just above the Affiniti 50 in price and sacrifices the PureWave transducers and ShearWave elastography, another difference is the L12-3 high quality linear transducer that is not available on Affiniti 50.If you are willing to pay for the more expensive single crystal probes or the shearwave elastography then the Affiniti 70 is an excellent deal, but if not then the Philips Affiniti 50 is the most feature-rich midrange ultrasound machine available.

Other brands competing with the Affiniti 50
The closest competitor to the Philips Affiniti 50 from GE would be the Logiq P6 premium, as both are shared service ultrasound machines capable of all applications. However the Voluson P8, and Vivid S5 would be similar competitors in women’s health, and cardiac respectively. The Affiniti 50 feels superior to the Logiq P6 in speed, resolution, monitor size and it has a touchscreen.The Affiniti 50 menus seem cleaner and more modern as well. The H60 would be the closest competitor from Samsung, though it’s strength is much more lopsided in 4D and women’s health with only minor support for cardiac and general imaging compared to the more robust Affiniti 50. Most importantly the Affinti 50 has noticeably better image quality than competing systems from other brands. The Siemens X300 PE offers a few probe choices such as ICE that are not available on the Affiniti 50, and offers the same breadth of applications support as the Affiniti 50, but does not have the touchscreen, large monitor or quite the same feature depth as the Affiniti 50.