TRANS FAT

• Interventional Radiology is a medical sub-specialty of radiology that uses minimally-invasive image-guided procedures to diagnose and treat diseases
• Procedures in interventional radiology use angiographic techniques for the treatment of disease and provide certain diagnostic information
• The purpose of interventional radiology is therapeutic, intervening in or interfering with the course of a disease process or other medical condition
• Interventional radiology provides real-time dynamic viewing of anatomic structures
• Dynamic studies in interventional radiology show the motion of circulation or the motion of internal structures
• Contrast media is used in interventional radiology to highlight the anatomy
• Continuous imaging of the internal structure is done while the x-ray tube is energized
• Fluoroscopy was invented by Thomas A. Edison in 1896
• The fluoroscope is used for the examination of moving internal structures and fluids
• Fluoroscopy is a routine type of x-ray examination, except for its application in the visualization of vessels, known as angiography
• Angiography is primarily used to identify the anatomy or pathologic process of blood vessels
• Blood vessels are not normally visible on conventional radiography and must be filled with radiopaque contrast medium to delineate them
• Advancements in angiography:
• In 1920's, sodium iodide was used as a contrast medium for lower limb studies
• In 1927, angiography was introduced by Egaz Moniz using needles and contrast media to highlight vessels
• In the 1950's, contrast media was injected through a needle puncturing the vessel or through a ureteral catheter passed into the body through a surgically exposed peripheral vessel
• In 1953, Seldinger announced a percutaneous method of catheter introduction, eliminating surgical risks
• In the 1960's, Mason Jones introduced transbrachial selective coronary angiography, and Melvin Judkins and Charles Dotter contributed to coronary and visceral angiography respectively
• Until the early 1990s, angiograms recorded flowing contrast media in a series of images, but now Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA) systems are used almost exclusively
• Digital imaging in interventional radiology is cost-effective because images are stored electronically