CathLab
CathLab Platform
The Experimental Cardiac Catheterization and Intervention Laboratory (CathLab Platform) is a modern and fully equipped animal facility.
The CathLab specifically designed for supporting preclinical cardiovascular research offers a unique environment to test novel cardiovascular devices and techniques developed by physician investigators and industry partners.
Our staff includes passionate and highly trained professionals. Experienced animal health technologists are conducting all animal preparation, assisting surgery during angiographic intervention as well as post-procedure care. All cardiac procedures are supervised by a team of experts from the department of multidisciplinary cardiology at the Institute.
Equipment and Services
Our on-site facility includes:
- A digital fluoroscopy and angiography system (Philips Azurion 7 C12 with FlexArm).
- An ultrasound system equipped with transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography probes (Philips EPIQ 7).
- An echocardiographic-fluoroscopic image fusion system (Philips EchoNavigator).
- An experimental surgical suite with a preparation room.
- Animal housing rooms and facilities for large animals including swine and sheep (capacity of 18 livestock pens).
- An access to advanced medical imaging equipment dedicated to research including multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT; Philips 6000 iCT) and 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; Philips Ingenia).
- A possibility of translational application to humans by using the hospital’s hybrid operating room (First-in-Man studies).
Our expertise and offered services:
- Acute studies
- Cardiovascular devices and implants (coronary stents, heart valve devices and systems, heart failure devices, pacemakers and defibrillators)
- Electrophysiology studies (pacemaker, cardiac defibrillator, etc.)
- Multimodal assessment of cardiac and implantable medical device functions (echocardiography, MSCT and MRI)
Application Process
Every research project at the Institute undergoes scientific and ethical reviews in order to be authorized: any project carried out with animals has to previously receive an ethical approval from the Animal Care Committee of Université Laval (CPAUL). Usually the estimated starting time for a project from application submission is one to two months, for an acute study that fit with the preapproved CPAUL’s Umbrella protocol, and three to four months, for a new study protocol requiring a prior acceptance from the CPAUL.
Please complete the e-form for any service request.
Fees