Published online Dec 28, 2010. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v2.i12.474
Revised: December 15, 2010
Accepted: December 22, 2010
Published online: December 28, 2010
Dr. Takao Hiraki is a scientist carrying out interventional radiology research in the Department of Radiology at Okayama University Medical School, Japan. He has conducted animal and human clinical studies on interventional radiology for various conditions. For example, he clarified the hepatic hemodynamic changes caused by hepatic venous occlusion. He also developed new devices, such as hydrogel coils for the occlusion of the aneurismal sac after an endovascular stent-graft of an aortic aneurysm to prevent endoleakage and small intestinal submucosa-covered stents for transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts. Further, he performed a number of studies on the radiofrequency ablation of lung cancer, mediastinal lymph node metastasis, and computed tomography-fluoroscopy-guided lung biopsies. He intends to continue to dedicate his academic career to expand the role of interventional radiology in clinical medicine.