Interventional Radiology
Abbreviated “IR”, or sometimes VIR for vascular and interventional radiology, interventional radiology is a subspecialty of radiology in which minimally invasive procedures are performed using image guidance. Some of these procedures are done for 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.