A cardiovascular-interventional technologist (also known as a CV Technologist) specializes in the sophisticated imaging techniques used for looking at the heart (cardiac care) and the blood vessels (vascular care). The sophisticated imaging techniques that a CV technologist uses allows him/her to map out a patient?s blood vessel pathways to and from the heart and other areas of the body without having to perform open surgery. A physician or radiologist is then able to use this information to do such things as insert and guide medical instruments and tools, such as catheters (narrow tubes) and wires, through tiny incisions made in the patient?s skin to the sight of medical problems. While inside the patient?s body, the medical instruments and tools are used to do things such as biopsies, draining fluids, opening blocked vessels, etc. CV technologists may directly assist physicians and/or radiologists with such procedures. The advantages of using this process to detect and/or correct a medical problem as opposed to using open surgery are numerous and include shorter hospital stays, little or no scarring, and less pain. Thus, the images generated by a CV technologist play a major role in diagnosing and correcting medical problems. The majority of CV technologists work in hospital settings. However, they also work in surgery centers, imaging centers, physician?s offices and clinics.
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