Cath Lab

The cardiac catheterization laboratory is used for diagnostic angiograms and percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). Cath labs have also seen expanding use in recent years for transcatheter structural heart procedures. Some hospitals also share these labs with other subspecialties for catheter-based procedures in electrophysiology (EP), interventional radiology, peripheral artery disease (PAD), carotid and neuro interventional procedures and vascular surgery.

Kumar Madassery, MD, director of peripheral vascular intervention and critical limb ischemia (CLI) program at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, explains techniques and tools used to restore blood flow to the foot to help foot wounds heal and prevent amputation. He is part of a campaign to raise awareness through the PAD Pulse Alliance.

Interventional techniques can help limit amputations among CLI patients

Kumar Madassery, MD, detailed some of the techniques and tools used to restore blood flow to the foot to help foot wounds heal and prevent amputation.

March 19, 2024
HeartFlow FFR-CT is a non-invasive imaging method to determine the fractional flow reserve for the entire coronary tree.

AI-based CAD assessments as accurate as FFR, new 10-year study confirms

The FDA-approved technology developed by HeartFlow can predict a patient's long-term risk of target vessel failure as well as more invasive treatments performed inside a cath lab. 

March 12, 2024
Philips LumiGuide 3D imaging system

Light-powered 3D imaging system guides vascular surgeries without X-ray

The Philips LumiGuide utilizes a fiber optic guidewire with AI-assisted recognition to map the body arteries with light.

February 22, 2024
Video of Mahadevappa Mahesh, PhD, incoming-AAPM president, professor of radiology and a medical physicist, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, explains key trends in imaging physics presented at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 2023 meeting.

6 key trends in medical imaging physics

Mahadevappa Mahesh, PhD, incoming American Association of Physicists in Medicine president, discusses key developments in the specialty. 

February 14, 2024
Allia IGS Pulse, GE Healthcare's updated image-guided system for cardiac imaging, gained FDA clearance

FDA clears GE Healthcare’s new image-guided system for heart patients of all sizes

GE Healthcare's newest cardiac angiography offering will be on display at TCT 2023 in San Francisco. 

October 18, 2023
SentiAR CommandEP system

Technology that creates interactive holograms of the heart cleared by FDA

SentiAR's CommandEP interface facilitates 3D models of the heart, made possible through augmented reality. 

October 16, 2023
X-ray photon trajectory during the simulation phantom study from the side and top views. Due to scattering of the X-rays when they hit the lower end of the patient bed, exposure in mainly to the lower body of the interventional echocardiographer performing transesophageal echocardiography. The green lines are the scattered photon trajectories calculated by Monte Carlo simulation in the study.

Radiation exposure in the cath lab: Tracking the impact on interventional echocardiographers

Researchers found that echocardiographers in the cath lab are exposed to high doses of radiation on the right half of their body, especially the waist and lower body. 

April 28, 2023
The ACC released a new guideline asking interventional cardiologists to use intravascular imaging to improve outcomes in percutanous coronary intervention (PCI). Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is a catheter-based imaging technology that allows physicians to visualize blood vessels from the inside out. Image courtesy of Philips. 

ACC urges all interventional cardiologists to use intravascular imaging during PCI

New recommendations from the American College of Cardiology detail how intravascular imaging can help clinicians before, during and after PCI procedures. 

February 16, 2023

Around the web

Automated AI-generated measurements combined with annotated CT images can improve treatment planning and help referring physicians and patients better understand their disease, explained Sarah Jane Rinehart, MD, director of cardiac imaging with Charleston Area Medical Center.

Two advanced algorithms—one for CAC scores and another for segmenting cardiac chamber volumes—outperformed radiologists when assessing low-dose chest CT scans. 

"Gen AI can help tackle repetitive tasks and provide insights into massive datasets, saving valuable time," Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, said Tuesday. 

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