WIRS EDUCATION HUB · RESOURCES
The Education Resource Library.
External learning worth a registrar's time, mapped to the six pillars. WIRS never hosts or copies third-party material — every item links to its own provider, with a WIRS note on why it is here and the date the link was last checked.
Recommended external resources.
IR foundations
- European Curriculum and Syllabus for IR (3rd edition) (opens in a new tab)The reference European IR curriculum, and the basis of the EBIR examination — a comprehensive map of the knowledge and skills a training IR practitioner works towards.
- CIRSE Academy (opens in a new tab)CIRSE's e-learning platform, with courses aligned to the European IR curriculum, accessed through a free CIRSE account.
- Radiation protection (opens in a new tab)The principles radiation protection rests on — justification of exposure, optimisation (ALARA) and dose limits — and the protective measures those principles translate into in a screening room.
Core image-guided, non-vascular and oncologic IR
- CIRSE Guidelines on Percutaneous Needle Biopsy (opens in a new tab)CIRSE's guideline document on percutaneous needle biopsy — indications, contraindications, planning considerations and reported complication rates.
- CIRSE Standards of Practice on PTC, Biliary Drainage and Stenting (opens in a new tab)CIRSE's standards document for percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography, biliary drainage and biliary stenting.
- CIRSE Standards of Practice on Nephrostomy and Ureteric Stent Placement (opens in a new tab)CIRSE's standards document for percutaneous nephrostomy, ureteric stent placement and stent exchange.
- Radiopaedia — search for non-vascular IR topics (opens in a new tab)Opens the Radiopaedia home page: a free, collaboratively edited radiology reference with a large case library. Search from there for biopsy, drainage, ablation and interventional-oncology topics — its section pages sit behind a consent gate and cannot be linked directly.
- CT guided biopsy (opens in a new tab)How CT guidance is used for percutaneous biopsy — the anatomical territories where it takes precedence over ultrasound, planning a safe approach, and the sequence of a CT-guided sampling procedure.
- Ultrasound-guided biopsy (opens in a new tab)Ultrasound-guided sampling — freehand versus needle-guide technique, keeping needle and target in plane, and the lesions for which ultrasound is the guidance of choice.
- Fine needle aspiration (FNA) (opens in a new tab)Fine needle aspiration as a sampling technique — needle calibre, aspiration versus capillary methods, and how the cytology it yields differs from core-biopsy histology.
- CT guided percutaneous drainage (opens in a new tab)CT-guided drainage of collections — planning access through a safe window, the Seldinger and trocar routes to catheter placement, and catheter selection.
- Ultrasound guided percutaneous drainage (opens in a new tab)Ultrasound-guided drainage — real-time needle visualisation, the choice between simple aspiration and catheter drainage, and the collections suited to bedside guidance.
- Intercostal catheter (opens in a new tab)Intercostal catheter placement and management — insertion site and technique, catheter sizing, and the radiographic appearances of a correctly sited and a malpositioned tube.
- Percutaneous nephrostomy (opens in a new tab)Percutaneous nephrostomy — the indications for urgent urinary decompression, posterior calyceal puncture and tract formation, and post-procedural care and complications.
- Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (opens in a new tab)Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage — the external, internal-external and combined approaches, how the access route is chosen, and drainage catheter management afterwards.
- Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (opens in a new tab)Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography — the diagnostic cholangiogram that precedes and shapes a biliary drainage, including duct opacification and assessment of the level of obstruction.
- Percutaneous cholecystostomy (opens in a new tab)Percutaneous cholecystostomy — transhepatic versus transperitoneal access, its role in cholecystitis in the patient unfit for surgery, and catheter management and removal.
- Radiologically inserted gastrostomy (RIG) (opens in a new tab)Radiologically inserted gastrostomy — patient preparation and gastric insufflation, puncture and gastropexy, and how the radiological route differs from the endoscopic (PEG) one.
- Radiofrequency ablation (opens in a new tab)Radiofrequency ablation — how radiofrequency current produces coagulative necrosis, electrode and grounding considerations, and the heat-sink effect of blood flow near the target.
- Percutaneous liver tumor ablation (opens in a new tab)Ablation of liver tumours — patient and lesion selection, the modalities in use, and the imaging assessment of ablation margins and residual disease afterwards.
- Percutaneous lung tumor ablation (opens in a new tab)Ablation of lung tumours — selecting the inoperable patient, approaching a lesion through aerated lung, and the pneumothorax and haemorrhage risks particular to the chest.
- Percutaneous renal tumour ablation (opens in a new tab)Ablation of renal tumours — small renal mass selection, cryoablation alongside the heat-based options, and hydrodissection to move adjacent structures out of the ablation zone.
Vascular & emergency intervention
- SIR — IR training pathways for students and residents (opens in a new tab)SIR's trainee-focused section, with body-IR-broad orientation resources, residency-practicum programming and a residents/fellows/students community.
- SIR — clinical practice guidelines and statements (opens in a new tab)SIR's index of clinical practice guidelines, position statements and consensus documents, including dialysis and venous access.
- CIRSE 2020 Summit sneak peek: Embolisation in musculoskeletal disease (opens in a new tab)A short CIRSE Summit preview discussing embolisation in musculoskeletal disease — verified via YouTube's oembed endpoint as an official CIRSEsociety channel upload, not an embedded guess.
- CIRSE Standards of Practice on Bronchial Artery Embolisation (opens in a new tab)CIRSE's standards document for bronchial artery embolisation in haemoptysis — patient assessment, technique and follow-up.
- Embolization agents (opens in a new tab)The families of embolic agent — particles, coils, plugs, liquid agents and gelatin sponge — and how they differ in permanence, the level at which they occlude, and how they are delivered.
- Embolization coils (opens in a new tab)Embolisation coils — pushable versus detachable systems, bare platinum versus fibred coils, sizing to the target vessel, and coil migration.
- Bronchial artery embolization (opens in a new tab)Bronchial artery embolisation for haemoptysis — bronchial arterial anatomy and its common variants, recognising the spinal arterial supply that must be preserved, and agent selection.
- Uterine artery embolization (opens in a new tab)Uterine artery embolisation — the fibroid and adenomyosis indications, uterine arterial anatomy and ovarian collateral supply, particle choice, and post-embolisation syndrome.
- Peripherally inserted central catheter (opens in a new tab)PICC lines — insertion via an upper-arm vein under ultrasound, tip position at the cavoatrial junction, and the thrombotic and infective complications particular to PICCs.
- Central venous catheter (opens in a new tab)Central venous catheters across their range — tunnelled, non-tunnelled and implanted ports — with access site selection and the radiographic assessment of tip position and complications.
- Inferior vena cava filter (opens in a new tab)IVC filters — the indications for mechanical caval interruption, retrievable versus permanent devices, deployment position relative to the renal veins, and retrieval and device complications.
Neuroradiology & neurointervention
- ECMINT — European Course in Minimally Invasive Neurological Therapy (opens in a new tab)A two-year, four-course theoretical programme covering neuroanatomy, neuroimaging, aneurysms, stroke, AVMs and dural fistulas — the reference theoretical grounding for neurointervention trainees.
- EXMINT — theoretical ischaemic stroke course (opens in a new tab)ESMINT's condensed theoretical course in the neurointerventional treatment of ischaemic stroke. It is a course, not an examination — this row previously said otherwise.
- World Stroke Academy modules (opens in a new tab)Free stroke e-learning — webinars and interactive modules orienting learners to stroke systems of care, presentation and imaging, relevant across specialties.
- Radiopaedia (opens in a new tab)A free, collaboratively edited radiology reference with an extensive imaging case library, widely used for day-to-day image interpretation across all of radiology, including neurovascular imaging.
- Neuroangio.org (opens in a new tab)A free, individually authored neurovascular education site with detailed anatomical tutorials, DSA-based case archives and treatment-concept guides.
- Intracranial aneurysm (overview) (opens in a new tab)An overview of intracranial aneurysms — the saccular, fusiform, dissecting and infective types, their characteristic locations and imaging appearances, and the considerations that drive treatment.
- Saccular cerebral aneurysm (opens in a new tab)Saccular ('berry') aneurysms — their distribution around the circle of Willis, associated conditions, appearances on CTA, MRA and DSA, and the coiling and clipping options.
- Brain arteriovenous malformation (opens in a new tab)Brain arteriovenous malformations — nidus, feeding artery and draining vein anatomy, the Spetzler-Martin grading system, and the embolisation, surgical and radiosurgical options.
- Dural arteriovenous fistula (opens in a new tab)Dural arteriovenous fistulae — dural arterial supply and venous drainage patterns, the Borden and Cognard classifications, and why cortical venous reflux is what determines risk.
- Onyx (opens in a new tab)Onyx, the ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer liquid embolic — how its DMSO solvent and precipitation behaviour allow a slow, controlled injection, and its use in AVM and dAVF embolisation.
Research, governance & career
- EBIR — European Board of Interventional Radiology (opens in a new tab)A two-part IR knowledge certification for fully qualified radiologists with dedicated IR training and procedure experience — the certification the CIRSE curriculum builds towards.
- ABR — IR/DR certification pathway (opens in a new tab)The US radiology and IR certifying board, covering diagnostic radiology, interventional radiology and related subspecialty certification.
- RadioGraphics (opens in a new tab)One of RSNA's peer-reviewed journals, publishing educational review articles across radiology and IR — a common journal-club source.