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Discovery of X-Rays
German physicists, Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen (1845-1923) was the 1st person to observe x-rays, which he ultimately won a Nobel Peace Prize for in 1901. The picture is of Wilhelm Rontgen himself, and his 1st x-ray taken, his wife's hand. This confirmed that the "Crookes Tube" could eliminate x-rays and successfully look inside the human body. -
Radiology Technologist
The American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) was founded in 1920 and has more than 155,000 members. The ASRT is the "world's largest and oldest membership association for medical imaging technologists and radiation therapists" (asrt.org) -
Father of Intervention
Charles T. Dotter (1920-1985) has been given the name "Father of Intervention" by creating a new specialty in radiology- Interventional Radiology (IR). Patients with vascular problems were typically treated with open surgeries, which meant anesthesia, long hospital stays, and a higher risk of morbidity and mortality. Dotter wanted a way to treat patients with vascular problems in less invasive ways than surgery. In 1963, Dotter "accidentally" achieved that goal by recanalizing the iliac artery. -
Restoring Blood Flow
82 year old woman, Laura Shaw, was an inpatient at University of Oregon Hospital with an ischemic left foot. After refusing numerous physician recommendations of an amputation, Dr. Dotter and his trainee successfully performed percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) of the superficial femoral artery (SFA) using a balloon attached onto a catheter. The patient was able to walk out of the hospital weeks later. -
Neuroendovascular
Dr. Fedor A. Serbinenko (1928-2002), was a known neurosurgeon in Moscow, Russia. He has been deemded the founder of neuroendoascular radiology, or neuroendovascular surgery. Serbinenko performed the first direct selective external carotid artery angiogram with temporary internal carotid artery balloon assisted occlusion on February 8, 1964. -
Inferior Vena Cava Filter
Dr. Kazi Mobin-Uddin (1930-1999), "The Umbrella Man", has been documented as the creator of the first Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) Filter while at the University of Miami. He was a surgeon specializing in vascular surgery. Designed to capture blood clots from the legs before reaching the heart and lungs, Newsweek Magazine reported the device in their October 1969 issue as the "Umbrella of Life". -
The Society
Founded in 1973 originally as the Society of Cardiovascular Surgery which 10 years later changed it's name to the Society of Cardiology and Interventional Radiology. In 2003, members decided to concentrate more on Interventional Radiology and voted to change the name to Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR). SIR is a nonprofit professional medical group composed of doctors, residents, clinical associates, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and more. -
TIPS
Dr. Ronald Colapinto (1931-2011) is a well known physician in the interventional radiology world. He is known for pioneering a technique to help patients with blockages in the liver as well as esophageal and gastric varices. He was the 1st to perform a human transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) using balloon dilation. -
Palmaz Stent
Julio Palmaz (1945- ) is a physician of vascular radiology. Palmaz is known as the inventor of the 1st balloon-expandable stent. He got the idea after listening to a presenter at a conference about angioplasty. The talk was about how the vessel wouldn't stay open post-plasty. He went home, molded and soldered copper wire from scrapes he found in his garage. The patented idea keeps the vessel open while restoring blood flow. This stent is used in coronary and peripheral artery disease. -
Solitaire
Created intentionally as a neuroendovascular stent to treat wide neck aneurysms, the Solitaire flow restoration device has changed how acute ischemic strokes are treated. With lack of inventory during a stroke case in March 2008, doctors had no other choice but to use the off label stent if there was any chance in saving the patient's life. It worked.
