Dr. Barry T. Katzen, an interventional radiologist and the founder and medical director of Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute, has pioneered less invasive treatments for aneurysms -- potentially fatal bulges in arteries.

Katzen and his team use image-guided technology to treat patients through a small incision in the groin. Baptist did its first such procedure in 1989 and has been using it regularly since 1993.

We talked to Katzen about his work. His answers have been edited for space.

Q: What is an aneurysm and where in the body can one occur?

A: Aneurysms can involve almost any artery in the circulatory system. We see aneurysms in arteries going to the kidneys, going to the liver, going to the legs, going to the arms, going to the brain. We think of them most commonly in the brain or in the aorta, which is the main artery in the body. They're basically a ballooning out of an artery because of a weakening in the wall. With the heart continually pumping, as it gets bigger, it can rupture. And when they do rupture, they can be fatal events.

Q: What kind of aneurysms can be treated with minimally invasive procedures?

A: Virtually all types. These includes aneurysms in the brain as well as the more common ones that occur in the aorta, including the so-called Triple A, the abdominal aortic aneurysms, which are probably the more common.

Q: What are some of the minimally invasive procedures used to treat aneurysms?

A: With aortic aneurysms, we construct a new piping inside the diseased piping. We put in something called an endograft, or a stent graft, which is a mixture of metal and fabric. Here at Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute, most of them are done with local anesthesia and involve a one- to two-day hospital stay. Aneurysms that occur in the brain are treated differently. We use a combination of stents and coils, little metal fibers that we put inside the aneurysm to clot off so it can't rupture.

Q: Can all aneurysms be treated with minimally invasive procedures?

A: There are cases that still require open surgery, approximately 20 to 40 percent of the time. It's generally because the anatomy is not suitable or some feature related to the aneurysm. The old-fashioned way, for abdominal aneurysms, is to actually open up the abdomen, and then the surgeon opens up the aneurysm and inside the aneurysm sews in a new piece of graft or fabric that becomes a new tubing. There are dramatic differences in terms of length of hospitalization, and the mortality rates are higher.

Q: Tell me about the sensors that are implanted during some of these procedures.

A: With theses less invasive procedures, the aneurysm is not removed and it generally shrinks around this new pipeline, but it requires ongoing surveillance. There is something called an endosensor, which is a little microchip that gets placed in the sac. It doesn't need a battery. It doesn't need any power. When the patient comes into the office, we can sort of ping it, with a cellphone type of technology, as you might do with radar, and it feeds us back information about the pressure in the sac. We're doing a clinical trial along with other centers around the United States to see if we can reduce the need for CT scans after these procedures.