Heart station in Bangalore for cardiac check-up

Narayana Institute of Cardiac Sciences Tuesday unveiled a "heart station" at NH Health City near here in association with S.N. Agarwal Foundation for a thorough heart check-up and treatment.

Touted to be first of its kind under one roof, the S.N. Heart Station on the city's outskirts will provide comprehensive heart diagnostic services to all patients with modern diagnostic equipment, including advanced echo-cardiographic applications for archiving images.

"The primary objective of the heart station is to reduce waiting time for patients, as we perform on average 140 echo (stress) tests daily in the hospital and be a role model for other state-run and private hospitals to follow," Narayana Health chairman Devi Shetty said in a statement here.

An echocardiogram (echo) test is a non-invasive, diagnostic test that uses high frequency sound waves to provide a clear picture of a human heart's movement, valves and chambers.

"The station is equipped to do research in cardiology with structured training programmes so as to avoid depending on western data in the field," Shetty said.

As a leading specialty hospital, the institute performs the largest number of heart surgeries, attracting patients from 76 countries the world over.

With 22 hospitals in 14 cities across the country and 6,200 beds, Narayana Health has also the country's largest bone marrow transplant unit and dialysis unit with tertiary care expertise in liver, kidney and heart transplants.