What is Interventional Radiology?

Traditional diagnosis and treatment of diseases often prove damaging to a patient, but interventional radiology, often abbreviated as IR, uses minimally invasive methods to accomplish better results than most traditional methods.

A sub-specialty of radiologies, IR takes advantage of modern technology by allowing a radiologist to diagnose and treat an issue in the body by using image-guided procedures, including x-rays, cat scans, ultrasound, as well as MRI’s.

After collecting images from these various machines, the radiologist uses the images to direct a series of instruments through the body. The instruments (generally catheters or needles) offer a much less invasive approach than traditional surgery.