This week the team has been discussing our plans for a multi client study on the area of interventional radiology. Why did we pick this area? Well, what is appealing about it is that IR techniques can often be applied where conventional surgery fails, so for those patients who may be unable to go through open surgery to correct a problem such as a vascular blockage, can be treated through pinhole surgery instead. The recovery time for the patient is considerably shorter than through traditional surgery.

The team were also interested to learn that techniques such as stenting that started out as an interventional radiology technique are now mainstream in areas such as cardiology.

But is there any growth in IR and why is it particularly interesting? Well at the moment, there seems to be a movement to "recognise" IR more, not necessarily pulling it out of the radiology department and into its own right, but certainly giving the speciality more of an identity of its own, and giving more doctors the impetus to train as IR specialists. Secondly, interventional oncology does seem to be a growth area, and a significant one too, as using techniques such as RF ablation to target tumours and burn the tumour away offer benefits both in terms of treating patients who may previously have been untreatable, but also in terms of reaching tumours that may previously have been unreachable due to location and shortening recovery times.

We're going to be talking to companies involved in producing products for this sector as well as interventional radiologists involved in treating tumours. More information on this fascinating area coming up soon.