DOTmed Industry Sector Report: Special Procedure - Cath Lab, Angio Lab
by Kathy Mahdoubi, Senior Correspondent | March 04, 2010
Where the cath angio lab meets the OR
One of the most remarkable trends for this industry is the merging of cath angio labs in the operating room and a move toward less invasive procedures.
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"The areas that we see significant growth even in this down market is in the hybrid OR," says Fabian. "Those are rooms that are either shared with interventional radiology and vascular surgery or cardiac surgeons and interventional cardiologists."
Image Star Post Processed Cardiac
Image, a single frame saved from a cini
loop, ROI zoomed in on and enhanced
with Color. (Image courtesy of Lakeshore
Technologies)
Image, a single frame saved from a cini
loop, ROI zoomed in on and enhanced
with Color. (Image courtesy of Lakeshore
Technologies)
In the past, interventional procedures stayed within the cath or angio suite and open surgical procedures belonged in the OR, but those lines are blurred as procedures become less invasive. What is becoming clearer is the need for innovative imaging and image guidance technology. Image-guided needle procedures and real time fluouro imaging is just an example of how this industry has developed over time.
"Surgeons still continue to use mobile C-arms, but now they are starting to use more advanced tools like 3D RA, which is three-dimensional rotational angiography, and other tools that are only used in a fixed lab," says Fabian. "Now you're taking them into an OR setting. Even in this year where we are seeing market decline, we are seeing a huge spike in activity and purchase of hybrid ORs. The next area where we are seeing growth is in electrophysiology, as procedures and new devices have really created a strong demand in EP and we anticipate that trend continuing for years to come."
Moccia indicated that a recent study projected more than half of future angio cath labs will be situated in a surgical environment.
Knowing that hybrid OR and IR real-estate is important, new interventional radiology imaging technologies are more space-conscious and versatile. Siemens' Artis zeego multi-axis interventional radiology and angiography system is floor-mounted and fully robotic and can do large volume, cross-sectional CT imaging.
"It can literally reach into the clinical field and do that imaging component," says Dewey. "This is our most significant development in the OR space."
