Interventional radiology is a subspecialty of radiology. Medical imaging allows a view of the inside of your body, to assist us in performing procedures that diagnose and treat a wide range of conditions. Instead of traditional surgery with large incisions, interventional radiology uses small medical instruments (needles or thin tubes) inserted through small openings made in the skin. We use the least invasive techniques available, to minimize discomfort and give you a faster recovery.
Interventional radiology procedures typically take between 30 and 90 minutes. Usually you can go home the same day. Image-guided procedures often are done with “conscious sedation”, eliminating the need for general anesthesia.
The type of imaging used (X-ray, CT, MRI, ultrasound) depends on the procedure. Placing a chest port for chemotherapy infusion, angioplasty, and draining abnormal fluid collections such as an abscess or infection are all examples of interventions that rely on medical images to guide them.
As the Stony Brook University Cancer Center grows, patients will continue to benefit from interventional radiological approaches to detecting and treating cancer. Oncology procedures that use medical images include ablation (freezing or burning of tumors) and embolization (targeting a tumor with chemotherapy or radiation therapy). These are available at Stony Brook.
Interventional radiology professionals at Stony Brook perform more than 10,000 procedures every year — on campus, at our outpatient centers as well as at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Northport.