Children’s National Medical Center, in conjunction with the National Institute of Health (NIH), opened its new Interventional Cardiac Magnetic Resonance suite in spring of 2013.  It is dedicated to improving the diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects in children, and consists of a interventional procedures catheterization lab adjoined to a 1.5 Tesla MRI suite.  The dual-modality suite allows overlay of X-ray images and real-time MRI images helping guide catheters, also reducing anesthesia requirements and radiation exposure.  The space also included related patient preparation, physician review and staff support areas. 

Korbel Associates provided a full scope of equipment planning services through completion of construction documents, including equipment list development with 3D equipment placement drawings in Revit (see rendering at left).  A particular challenge was finding MRI compatible versions of all equipment in the Cath Lab for when the rooms are jointly used, and we helped identify and track new product developments over the project’s duration. Korbel’s procurement phase scope included gathering all the project quotations and monitoring the budget versus actual dollars spent through the release of purchase orders.

The equipment budget is $2.5 million, not including the multi-million dollar grant for the Siemens imaging equipment.