Medical electronics & equipment - catheterization laboratories
Our innovative approach to treatment has always ensured that our catheterization laboratories reflect the latest in modern technology, with new state-of-the art equipment being added regularly. The addition of our fourth catheterization laboratory has promoted the Heart Center to the status of 'Specialist Reference Center'.
Four state-of-the-art catheterization laboratories
The Brandenburg Heart Center has a total of four state-of-the-art catheterization laboratories. Due to its innovative design concepts, a commitment to using the very latest in catheterization technology and a high standard of connectivity with the other laboratories as well as with the rest of the hospital, the Brandenburg Heart Center has become a General Electric (GE) Reference Hospital, and is a training hospital for cardiologists from across the whole of Europe.
When the new hospital was established in 1998, and the Brandenburg Heart Center was moved from its former site in Berlin-Buch to its current site in Bernau, the Heart Center initially only had one standard and one mobile catheterization laboratory. 2007 saw the official opening of two new state-of-the-art catheterization laboratories, one of which is equipped with a 3D navigation system (EnSite NaVX® Classic-System by St. Jude Medical) and is capable of performing electrophysiology studies.
The third catheterization laboratory was opened in 2011, and is primarily used for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with arrhythmia. This laboratory is equipped with the latest in catheterization technology, and includes a robotic navigation system (Sensei X by Hansen Medical) as well as a 3D mapping system (EnSite NavX® Velocity cardiac mapping system by St. Jude Medical), which is the first of its kind in the entire Berlin-Brandenburg region and as such represents a major innovation that benefits the entire region.
We have a team of highly qualified physicians and auxiliary staff on standby 24 hours a day in order to provide round-the-clock emergency treatment for patients with acute heart attack. More than 6,400 catheterization procedures are performed in our catheterization laboratories every year.
Technical equipment
- 4 catheterization laboratories for coronary angiography procedures and catheter-based coronary interventions, including blood pressure measurements
- Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), which is used for the sonographic visualization of coronary stenoses
- Intracoronary pressure measurements (FFR) using pressure wires, which is used as an assessment of the severity of coronary stenoses
- Angiography and digital subtraction angiography for the visualization of peripheral blood vessels in the legs, as well as the carotid arteries.
- Encimer laser for the removal of scar tissue as part of device lead extraction procedures involving pacemakers and ICD devices
- 2 electrophysiology systems for the invasive diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias
- 3D mapping systems (EnSite NavX® Velocity system and NavX® Classic-system der Firma St. Jude Medical), allowing precise visualization and 3D guidance during procedures to treat complex cardiac arrhythmias and pulmonary vein isolation
- Robotic navigation system (Sensei X by Hansen Medical) used in the treatment of complex cardiac arrhythmias and pulmonary vein isolation
- IT connectivity - between the different catheterization laboratories and between the catheterization laboratories and the rest of the hospital - ensures that all results and images are available throughout the entire hospital.
Services offered
- Diagnostic coronary angiography (including intravascular ultrasound, IVUS; the use of pressure wires to assess the hemodynamic consequences of clinically relevant stenoses, FFR)
- Percutaneous coronary interventions (balloon angioplasty, stent implantation, rotablation, thrombectomy)
- Implantation of intravascular circulatory support systems - intra-aortic balloon pump (IAPB)
- Rotational angiography
- Diagnostic and therapeutic pericardiocentesis
- Right heart catheterization, endomyocardial biopsy
- TASH (transcoronary ablation of septal hypertrophy) or ASA (alcohol septal ablation) - the injection of alcohol in order to ablate individual septal branches in patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (a congenital disorder that leads to thickening of the heart muscle)
- Catheter-based interventions to close atrial and ventricular septal defects (occluder device)
- Implantation of the Watchman atrial appendage occlusion device (a new non-pharmacologic strategy to prevent stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation and an increased risk of stroke)
- Catheter-based procedure to widen the aortic valve using a balloon-catheter (valvuloplasty)
- Percutaneous vascular interventions involving the blood vessels of the pelvis and legs, kidneys and neck (balloon angioplasty, stent implantation)
- Treatment of aortic aneurysm or aortic dissection using covered stents
- Renal denervation (new treatment option for patients with resistant arterial hypertension)
- Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI)
- Catheter-based intervention to treat mitral regurgitation (MitraClip)
- Implantation of event recorders, pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), including devices used for cardiac resynchronization (CRT-P and CRT-D), the cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) device OPTIMIZER™ and our latest addition: devices used for vagus nerve stimulation (in patients with severe heart failure)
- Treatment for complications arising in relation to pacemakers/ICDs (device lead extraction, which may involve the use of encimer laser technology)
- Ablation procedures for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias
