Sri Lanka’s state hospital system will receive four modern catheterisation laboratory units within the next week, marking a major step forward in the treatment of cardiac and vascular diseases, the Ministry of Health and Mass Media said.
The Ministry has made arrangements to install the new laboratories on the instructions of Health and Mass Media Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, with the aim of expanding access to cardiac diagnosis and treatment.
Each catheterisation laboratory unit is valued at Rs. 300 million while the total cost of the four units is Rs. 1.2 billion, the Ministry said.
Accordingly, one cath lab will be added to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital on June 27. Another will be added to the Colombo South Teaching Hospital, Kalubowila, on June 30.
The ministry has also planned to add two cath labs to the National Hospital of Sri Lanka in Colombo on July 02.
The programme forms part of the ministry’s efforts to modernise and expand diagnostic services in the country, the statement said.
Under this initiative, the ministry will install four advanced ‘Canon Alphenix Core+ Evolve Edition’ cardiac catheterisation systems in the state hospital network.
A cardiac catheterisation laboratory, commonly known as a cath lab, is a specialised medical facility designed to diagnose and treat diseases of the heart and blood vessels.
Doctors use cath labs to carry out coronary angiography to examine the condition of the heart and blood vessels. They also perform life-saving procedures, including angioplasty to clear blocked coronary arteries, stent placement, heart valve interventions, electrophysiology studies, and treatments for abnormal heart rhythms.
The new cath lab systems will allow doctors to treat patients through faster, safer and minimally invasive procedures, reducing the need for open surgery, the statement stated.
These advanced systems include artificial intelligence-based real-time imaging technology. They can produce high-quality images while significantly reducing radiation exposure during fluoroscopy.
The systems can also provide clear and high-quality images even during procedures that do not require cine imaging. This will help doctors carry out complex interventions more safely and with greater confidence, the statement said.
One of the key features of the machines is DDS technology, a live three-dimensional stent visualisation system. It displays stent structures in high detail during fluoroscopy without the need for additional imaging.
This technology helps reduce radiation exposure further while maintaining image quality. It also significantly reduces the time required for complex percutaneous coronary intervention procedures and coronary stent placements.
The machines also allow doctors to access any part of a patient’s body within seconds, improving workflow and clinical efficiency.
In addition, the systems provide high image quality only in the area that requires medical attention, while reducing unnecessary radiation exposure to surrounding tissue. This is particularly important in complex PCI and coronary stenting procedures, where radiation control is essential.
The video display system can show information from several medical imaging sources on a single large monitor. This allows medical teams to view and compare different images at the same time, supporting faster, easier and more accurate diagnosis and decision-making inside the cath lab.
The addition of the four cardiac catheterisation laboratory units is expected to reduce waiting lists for the diagnosis and treatment of heart and vascular diseases in Sri Lanka’s hospital system, the statement added.
It will also help provide patients with faster, more accurate and more efficient care.
