Pacemaker or angioplasty, a clear image is critical.

A catheterization laboratory, more commonly referred to as a cath lab, is an examination room in a hospital clinic with diagnostic imaging equipment to visualize the arteries and chambers of the heart. Most are "single plane" facilities, those that have a single X-ray generator source. Cath labs used to record the information got on cine film. Since 2000, most new facilities are digital, and the latest digital cath labs are "bi-plane" (two X-ray sources) and use flat panel detectors.

A general term for the procedures that are performed in the cath lab is cardiac catheterization. These can range from a coronary angiography to a transcatheter aortic valve replacement. It is important it is that this vital piece of imaging equipment is always ready, and that a cath lab waiting to be repaired can halt a medical imaging facility in its tracks.