Your Guide to Medical Imaging Equipment

Installing any piece of medical equipment is a challenge, but few modalities match the highly-involved process of installing an interventional cath lab. Because there are so many steps, the process is the subject of many, many questions. So, during a recent install, we decided to document the process for all to see. While there are elements outside an installer's control, such as delivery conditions, the difficulty of electrical runs, or the hours the building is available to them, most cath lab installations take place along a schedule similar to the one below.

Keep reading to see a pictorial, day-by-day walkthrough of a cath lab installation.

Philips cath labs come loaded with a wide variety of hardware and software options. As a result, there are a lot of tech terms and proprietary names that get thrown around when the equipment is discussed; things like FlexVision XL, FlexVision Pro, FlexArm, EP Cockpit, and Clarity. While these terms can sometimes be confused or, worse, overlooked altogether, they represent important items that can make a big difference in the cost, performance, and user experience of the lab. To clarify the function and value of Philips cath lab options, let’s take a closer look at the terms that come up the most when we talk with cath lab buyers who are considering Philips.

 For those entering the cath lab market for the first time, there are scads of options on the table as you begin doing your homework and narrowing down the field. One of the major options you'll run across is whether you want a single or bi-plane cath lab system. To help you make that determination, we've compiled a short list of things you should know first.

Single and bi-plane cath labs differ from one another in several main ways:

1. Image Acquisition Speed
2. Specialization
3. Space Requirements
4. Site Preparation
5. Cost

One question we're asked on a regular basis about interventional radiology equipment is, "What's the difference between a cath lab and an electrophysiology (EP) lab?" It’s a great question and, from a cursory look at the cath lab system being used, you wouldn’t notice a difference. Both cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology labs use the same, small-detector radiology system hardware- a GE Innova 2100 IQ or Philips Allura FD10, for instance. Still, there are significant differences between these two lab setups that require more than a brief glance to understand. We'll discuss these below.

There's no debating it: from the II-based days of the Advantx to the digital transition first embodied in the Innova 2000, the GE line of cath labs has enjoyed an incredible run of success over the years. Much of this success is due to GE's understanding of the tension for users between being grounded in what's familiar and adapting to what's coming down the pike.

The mainstays of the line of labs have included the table and gantry – designs that, at their core, go back at least to the early 90’s and still remain today, with the remaining components adapting around them as technological advancements grow.

The advancement that we want to focus on today is the move from the Innova IQ, to the IQ Plus naming structure. There is often confusion about what exactly was involved in this transition. This blog will break down the differences between GE Innova IQ and Innova IQ Plus cath labs.