Cardiac catheterisation laboratory (cathlab) is a comprehensive setup used for diagnostic and therapeutic cardiac catheterisation. The most important equipment in that cathlab is the x-ray image intensifier system. The x-ray tube is a heavy duty one generating about 1000 mA of tube current and capable of continuous operation. In the fluroscopic mode, the current will be much smaller, in the order of a few millamperes, while in cine mode the currents are high, of the order of 600 – 800 mA. Operating voltage is in the range of 70 – 100 Kilo volts.
X-ray tube generates the X-rays needed for imaging. The X-ray beam passes through the flurosopic table and the patient positioned on the table and is received by the image intensifier, to produce the images. The X-ray tube and the image intensifier are attached to a C-arm gantry which can be rotated in two planes to produce various angulated views. The images are seen on the fluroscopic monitor which is suspended from the ceiling. The cine images are also recorded by the computerised recording system for archival. The videos can be recorded on to CD / DVD as per the system capability.
An invasive pressure monitor with facility for monitoring intracardiac pressures and ECG, pressure injector, intra aortic balloon pump (IABP), cardiac monitor defibrillator, infusion pumps, suction apparatus and other supporting equipment are part of the gadgets available in the cathlab.
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