Interventional radiology is a minimally-invasive method of using radiology to treat disease rather than diagnose it. Without open surgery, small catheters or needles are guided to the affected area of the body with advanced imaging technology. This kind of procedure has replaced many traditional surgeries as it can be safer and more cost effective, and can decrease recovery time.

Interventional radiology procedures include:

• Angioplasty/stent (the opening of narrowed blood vessels without surgery)
• Nephrostomy (the drainage of an obstructed kidney)
• Vertebroplasty (injecting bone cement into the spine to prevent further advancement of compression fractures)
• Needle biopsy (extracting cells from organs or bone to be analyzed by pathology)

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