Image result for interventional radiology Interventional radiology (IR), also known as vascular and interventional radiology (VIR) or surgical radiology, is an independent medical specialty (previously a sub-specialty of radiology) providing minimally invasive image-guided diagnosis and treatment of diseases in every organ system. They use X-Ray and other imaging to advance a catheter and other small instruments in the body to diagnose or treat the disease, non-surgically.