Radiology, interventional

The use of image guidance methods to gain access to the deepest interior of most organs and organ systems.

Through a galaxy of techniques, interventional radiologists can treat certain conditions through the skin (percutaneously) that might otherwise require surgery.

The technology includes the use of balloons, catheters, microcatheters, stents, therapeutic embolization (deliberately clogging up a blood vessel), and more.

The specialty of interventional radiology overlaps with other surgical arenas, including interventional cardiology, vascular surgery, endoscopy, laparoscopy, and other minimally invasive techniques, such as biopsies.

Specialists performing interventional radiology procedures today include not only radiologists but also other types of doctors, such as general surgeons, vascular surgeons, cardiologists, gastroenterologists, gynecologists, and urologists