Stephen B. Solomon, MD Stuart G. Silverman, MD
Medical imaging in interventional oncology is used differ¬ently than in diagnostic radiology and prioritizes different imaging features. Whereas diagnostic imaging prioritizes the highest-quality imaging, interventional imaging priori¬tizes real-time imaging with lower radiation dose in addi¬tion to high-quality imaging. In general, medical imaging plays five key roles in image-guided therapy, and interven¬tional oncology, in particular. These roles are (a) prepro-cedure planning, (b) intraprocedural targeting, (c) intrap-rocedural monitoring, (d) intraprocedural control, and (e) postprocedure assessment. Although many of these roles are still relatively basic in interventional oncology, as re¬search and development in medical imaging focuses on interventional needs, it is likely that the role of medical imaging in intervention will become even more integral and more widely applied. In this review, the current status of medical imaging for intervention in oncology will be described and directions for future development will be examined.