Work underway on replacement cardiology equipment

Work is due to start on a £560,000 project to replace specialist cardiac equipment used to diagnose and treat patients at Scunthorpe General Hospital.
By Stephanie Bateman
Published 19th Jan 2015, 13:43 BST
Scunthorpe General HospitalScunthorpe General Hospital
Scunthorpe General Hospital

As part of a routine replacement programme, new advanced hi-tech equipment is being purchased for the catheterisation laboratory (cath lab) which is located in the radiology department at the hospital.

The lab was opened in July 2004 and was used for coronary angiograms, a procedure to detect narrowed heart arteries. In November 2010, the coronary angioplasty service was launched which treats narrowed heart arteries using balloons and stents. This eliminated the need for local patients to travel further afield for treatment.

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Consultant cardiologist Dr Sudipta Chattopadhyay said: “This investment is excellent news for patients as it means we will have the latest hi-tech equipment to hand which will enable us to expand the angioplasty service so we can see more patients. We expect to keep disruption to the service to an absolute minimum while work is being carried out.”

A cath lab is where cardiologists use specialist imaging equipment to capture pictures of the heart and the chambers of the heart. It is primarily used to perform angioplasty, which involves widening one or more narrowed coronary arteries to allow the blood to flow more easily through to the heart muscle.