Technology - Cathlab

Digital Catheterization Laboratory

• With the increasing burden of vascular disease in India, the demand for cardiac health care and the need for affordability of minimally invasive diagnostic procedures has increased.

• A Catheterization Laboratory ('Cath Lab') is essential to diagnose the presence of coronary artery disease and suggest a course of remedy in the form an angioplasty or through by-pass surgery. Cath Lab available from foreign manufacturers cost in the range of Rs.200 lakhs to Rs. 250 lakhs, which makes the treatments expensive and out of reach for the economically weaker sections.

• The Cardiovascular Technology Institute ('CVTI') of CARE Foundation has developed India's first and only indigenous Cath Lab. The new Cath Lab is expected to cost about one third of the imported ones, making cardiac treatment cost effective and accessible to all sections of the society.

• The prototype of indigenous Cath Lab is currently in operations at Care Hospitals Hyderabad and has proved very successful. Using the indigenous Cath Lab, CARE has been able to offer angiograms at Rs.5,000 as compared to Rs.15,000; charged by other Corporate Hospitals.

• CARE Foundation has system integrated a digital Cath Lab jointly with various in-house scientists and engineers and external agencies such as Alpha X-Ray Technologies Limited, Siemens Ltd., etc.

• The Foundation has imported the Digital Cath Lab from Siemens, Germany during 1997-98 at a cost of Rs. 255 lakhs. The Cath Lab has been installed in Care Hospital, Nampally, Hyderabad, both for carrying out the research activities and observe the operational performance in the live environment.
As per the management estimate, about 20% of time is spent for carrying out the research activities and the balance period is used for treatment of patients, for which Care Hospital would be paying spare-time hire charges.

• The Foundation has chosen to utilize the imported Cath Lab for dual purposes for the following reasons:

- To understand and study the operational performance of the Cath Lab during the live environment, while treating the patients; and

- To generate the adequate funds required to meet the repayment obligations to the lenders and operating expenses for the equipment.

• The prototype of the system integrated Cath Lab developed by Care Foundation has been inaugurated by H.E. A P J Abdul Kalam on 26th November 2002 in Care Hospital, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. The same being used for treating the cardiac patients and the adjacent table provides the number of patients being treated on the indigenous Cath Lab.

• At present the prototype of Cath Lab integrated by CARE Foundation has 55% of indigenous components and modules which includes image acquisition, storage and processing software, some parts of control circuits, assembly of X-ray generator, tube and image intensifier.

• CARE Foundation is proposing to set up/ install five Cath Labs at different Hospitals for testing their performance in different atmospheres / working conditions and improve the operational efficiency.

• CARE Foundation would integrate one Cath Lab at a time and it is expected that development of each Cath Lab would take about 3 months of elapsed time. CARE Foundation will commence the development next Cath Lab after installation / test-operation of the previous Cath Lab. With this approach, the Foundation would be able to increase the level of indigenous components, Cath Lab after Cath Lab, ultimately reaching 95% indigenous components.

• Accordingly, the Foundation is proposing to develop the technical know how for manufacturing a totally indigenous Cath Lab in the next two years.

Go Back