Advancements in technology and imaging have created new treatment options for patients. Interventional radiology is a field of medicine in which minimally invasive procedures are performed using image guidance. Interventional radiology is one of the biggest advances in the medical field, offering treatments with less risk and less pain and shorter hospital stays than surgery. Vascular and interventional radiology is one of the most rapidly expanding areas in medicine and has led the current movement toward minimally invasive therapy.

Vascular and Interventional radiologists are board-certified physicians who are trained in both medical imagining and minimally invasive therapies. They deliver accurate, targeted treatments to complex and sometimes life-threatening diseases and conditions. Interventional radiologists use imaging such as CT, ultrasound, MRI, and fluoroscopy to help guide procedures. Imaging is helpful when inserting catheters, wires, and other instruments and tools into the body. Doctors use this technology to diagnose or treat conditions in almost any part of the body instead of needing to directly look inside of your body through a scope (camera) or with open surgery.

During most procedures, an interventional radiologist will use different imaging methods (such as CT, fluoroscopy, and ultrasound) to direct a thin wire and catheter through a specific location in the body to treat or diagnose disease. Through the use of different imaging methods, they can manipulate and guide tiny instruments throughout the body, without the need for surgical incisions. Common interventional radiology procedures include:

• Angiography or angioplasty
• Embolization
• Cancer treatments including tumor embolization
• Tumor ablation
• Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty
• Needle biopsies
• Breast biopsy
• Uterine artery embolization
• Feeding tube placement
• Venous access catheter placement, such as ports and PICCs