• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Medical Tubing and Extrusion

Medical tubing and extrusion technologies

  • Technologies
    • Balloons
    • Brain-computer interfaces
    • Cardiac Implants
    • Catheters
    • Endoscopes
    • Heart valves
    • Pulsed Field Ablation
  • Components
    • Connectors
    • Needles and Injections
    • Seals
    • Tubing Components
  • Manufacturing
    • Coatings
    • Extrusions
    • Machining
    • Molding
      • Injection Molding
      • Insert molding
      • Mold Components
    • Tools
  • Materials
    • Advanced Materials
    • Metals
    • Nitinol
    • Plastics
    • Silicone
  • Business
    • Distribution Agreements
    • Legal News
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Partnerships
    • Personnel Moves
  • Regulatory
    • 510(k)
    • CE Mark
    • FDA Breakthrough Designation
    • ISO Certification
    • Pre-Market Approval (PMA)
    • Recalls
  • Suppliers
  • About Us

What is cardiac catheterization?

March 24, 2020 By Danielle Kirsh

cardiac-catheterization
[Image from the American Heart Association]
Cardiac catheterization is a procedure in which a catheter is inserted into an artery or vein in the groin, neck or arm and threaded to the heart.

Diagnostic tests can be performed using the catheter during catheterization, according to the Mayo Clinic. Coronary angioplasty and coronary stenting are also performed using cardiac catheterization.

Doctors usually perform cardiac catheterizations to test for heart disease. They can also locate narrowing blood vessels, measure pressure and oxygen levels in different parts of the heart, check pump functions, biopsy, diagnose congenital heart defects and identify heart valve issues using catheterizations.

It can also be used during procedures to close holes in the heart and fix congenital defects, repair or replace heart valves, open narrow heart valves, treat irregular heart rhythms with ablation and to close off parts of the heart to prevent blood clots, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Cardiac catheterization procedures take around 30 minutes but could result in preparation and recovery times of several hours.

How does it work?

The procedure is minimally invasive and requires the patient to be awake. Patients are given mild sedatives to relax and are administered a local anesthetic to numb catheter insertion sites.

The catheter is inserted using a plastic introducer sheath and guided through the blood vessel to coronary arteries using a special X-ray imaging machine, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

A contrast material is then injected through the catheter to produce images on the X-ray as the material moves through the heart’s chambers, valves and vessels. Digital photographs from the X-ray are used to diagnose narrowing or blockages of the coronary arteries.

Filed Under: Catheters Tagged With: Mayo Clinic, whatis

About Danielle Kirsh

Danielle Kirsh is an award-winning journalist and senior editor for Medical Tubing + Extrusion, Medical Design & Outsourcing and MassDevice. She received her bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism and mass communication from Norfolk State University and is pursuing her master's in global strategic communications at the University of Florida. You can connect with her on Twitter and LinkedIn, or email her at dkirsh@wtwhmedia.com.

Primary Sidebar

“mte
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest trends and developments in medical tubing and extrusion.
MDO ad

Sponsored Content

A new way to access scientific papers?

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.

Footer

Inv Logo

MASSDEVICE MEDICAL NETWORK

MassDevice
DeviceTalks
Medical Design & Outsourcing
MedTech 100 Index
Drug Discovery & Development
Pharmaceutical Processing World
Medical Design Sourcing
R&D World
Drug Delivery Business News

Medical Tubing + Extrusion

Subscribe to our E-Newsletter
Advertise with us
About
Attend our Monthly Webinars
Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2025 · WTWH Media LLC and its licensors. All rights reserved.
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media.

Privacy Policy | RSS