Interventional Radiology is a subspecialty of radiology in which minimally invasive procedures are performed using image guidance. Some of these procedures are done for purely diagnostic purposes while others are done for treatment purposes. Pictures (images) are used to direct these procedures, which are usually done with needles or other tiny instruments like small tubes called catheters. The images provide road maps that allow the Interventional Radiologist to guide these instruments through the body to the areas of interest.
Interventional Radiology including: |
| Angiography |
An X-ray exam of the arteries and veins to diagnose blockages and other blood vessel problems; uses a catheter to enter the blood vessel and a contrast agent (X-ray dye) to make the artery or vein visible on the X-ray. |
| Catheter Embolization |
In a catheter embolization procedure, medications or synthetic materials called embolic agents are placed through a catheter into a blood vessel to prevent blood flow to the area. |
| Coronary CTA |
A Coronary CTA is a heart-imaging test currently undergoing rapid development and evaluation for non-invasively determining whether either fatty deposits or calcium deposits have built up in the coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart muscle. If left untreated, these areas of build-up, called plaques, can cause heart muscle disease. Heart muscle disease, in turn, can lead to fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain and/or heart attack. |
| Cryotherapy |
Use of freezing temperatures to destroy cancerous tumors. |
| Kyphoplasty |
The Balloon Kyphoplasty procedure typically takes about one hour per fracture and may require an overnight hospital stay. The procedure can be done using either local or general anesthesia; the surgeon will determine the most appropriate method, based on the patient’s overall condition. |
| Vertebroplasty |
Vertebroplasty is a new, image-guided procedure performed by Interventional Radiologists as a treatment for painful spinal compression fractures and for some types of spinal cancer.
The procedure involves placing a needle into a fractured vertebral body and injecting a special type of bone cement. Many patients experience a dramatic decrease in their pain. |
| MR Guided Breast Biopsy |
Image-guided biopsy is performed when the abnormal area in the breast is too small to be felt, making it difficult to locate the lesion by hand (called palpation).
In MRI-guided breast biopsy, magnetic resonance imaging is used to help guide the interventional radiologist’s instruments to the site of the abnormal growth. |
| MRA (Angiography) |
Angiography is a minimally invasive medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions.
In magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), a powerful magnetic field, radio waves and a computer produce the detailed images. MR angiography does not use ionizing radiation (x-rays). |
| Thin Needle Biopsy of chest |
A needle biopsy, also called a needle aspiration, involves removing some cells— in a less invasive procedure involving a hollow needle—from a suspicious area within the body and examining them under a microscope to determine a diagnosis. |
| PTA Angiogram / Angioplasty |
Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty (PTA) is a procedure in which a series of x-ray pictures are taken using contrast (x-ray dye). Using a balloon, arteries or veins that have been narrowed or blocked are opened. A special catheter with a balloon on the tip is inflated and deflated to open a blocked vessel in your body. Before the PTA, an MRA (arteriogram) is done to help the doctors see the arteries in a certain part of the body. |
Dialysis Access |
Fistulograms are X-Ray procedures to visualize dialysis access and assess function. These images can then be used to treat access problems in a non surgical fashion to preserve existing shunts, usually avoiding additional surgery. |
| Thrombolysis |
Catheter-directed thrombolysis is a minimally invasive treatment that dissolves abnormal blood clots in blood vessels to help improve blood flow and prevent damage to tissues and organs. |
| Ultrasound Guided Biopsy |
In ultrasound-guided breast biopsy, ultrasound imaging is used to help guide the radiologist's instruments to the site of the abnormal growth. This test is commonly used for lesions of the thyroid, breast, abdomen, and extremities. |
| Vascular Access Procedures |
A vascular access procedure involves the insertion of a catheter into a blood vessel to provide a painless way of drawing blood or delivering drugs and nutrients into a patient's bloodstream over a period of weeks, months or even years. |
| Vascular Stenting / Angioplasty |
Angioplasty with vascular stenting are minimally invasive procedures performed to improve blood flow in the body's arteries and veins. Imaging techniques are used to guide a balloon-tipped catheter, a long, thin plastic tube, into an artery or vein and advance it to where the vessel is narrow or blocked. The balloon is then inflated to open the vessel, deflated and removed. A small wire mesh tube called a stent is permanently placed in the newly opened artery or vein to help it remain open. |
| VIR procedures |
Interventional Radiology (abbreviated IR or sometimes VIR for vascular and interventional radiology) is a subspecialty of radiology in which minimally invasive procedures are performed using image guidance. Pictures are used to direct these procedures, which are usually done with needles or other tiny instruments like small tubes called catheters. The images provide road maps that allow the Interventional Radiologist to guide these instruments through the body to the areas of interest. |
X-Ray Guided (Stereotactic) Breast Biopsy |
Image-guided biopsy is performed when the abnormal area in the breast is too small to be felt, making it difficult to locate the lesion by hand). This technique is most commonly used to localize and sample small calcifications within the breast. |
