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Most X-ray devices are used for medical diagnosis, but for certain procedures the units can be both diagnostic and interventional. Among these belong mobile C-arms and cath lab system.

We have written about the use of mobile C-arm machines, but what procedures are done in a cath lab, and when would you use a cath lab rather than a mobile C-arm?

Let us take a look.

What is a Cath Lab?

Cath lab, short for catheterization laboratory, is an examination room in a hospital or clinic with diagnostic imaging equipment.

It is similar to a C-arm system except that it is not mobile but a mounted system with a table. It also has more power than a mobile C-arm.

In a cath lab, physicians perform minimally invasive tests and procedures to diagnose and treat, for example, cardiovascular diseases.

The procedures performed in a cath lab often include small, flexible tubes, called catheters that are used instead of open surgery, to access the heart and blood vessels.

In general, cath labs consist of:

Patient table

Image intensifier / Flat panel detector

Viewing monitors

Injector pump

Angioplasty balloons

Defibrillator

Most cath labs have a single X-ray generator source and X-ray image intensifier for fluoroscopic imaging. Those are single plane cath labs, either floor or ceiling mounted.