Award of Excellence and Innovation in IR
The Award of Excellence and Innovation in Interventional Radiology, sponsored by the Rolf W. Günther Foundation for Radiological Sciences, is awarded on a yearly basis for outstanding contributions to the advancement of interventional radiology. Since its establishment in 2012, this distinction has been granted to some of the most innovative physicians in the field.
Congratulations to this year’s winner!
This year, the honour went to Prof. Reto Bale for his work on stereotactic thermal ablation including image fusion for ablation validation. He received the award during the CIRSE Annual Congress in Lisbon.
The innovation
Prof. Reto Bale’s dedication to pioneering advances in interventional radiology and oncology led him and his team to develop the stereotactic thermal ablation technique and workflow, a groundbreaking computer-assisted approach that addresses the limitations of traditional ablation methods, ensuring a more accurate, effective, and consistent treatment for liver tumours of various sizes and shapes.
They performed the first stereotactic radiofrequency ablation (SRFA) in 2001, followed by the first stereotactic microwave ablation (SMWA), irreversible electroporation (SIRE), and cryoablation (SKRYO) in the following years. Image fusion to validate needle placement and sufficient ablation margin is an integral part of this stereotactic workflow.
Since the inception of SRFA, the team has successfully treated over 5100 primary and secondary liver tumours in more than 1,500 patients, achieving short- and long-term outcomes comparable to liver surgery, even in large tumours, which is a remarkable success.
About the winner
During his studies and career path, Prof. Reto Bale has acquired extensive expertise both nationally in Austria and internationally from centres around the world including in the USA and Australia. He is currently a professor of interventional oncology, stereotaxy and robotics and Deputy Chairman of the Department of Radiology at the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria. He has also been appointed as head of the working group “Technique and Innovation” from the Austrian Society of Radiology and served as the President of the Austrian Society of Interventional Radiology (ÖGIR) from 2015 to 2017. Prof. Bale hosts the ESIR courses in Innsbruck on “Reliability in percutaneous tumour ablation”.
Prof. Bale’s many main research areas and previous research achievements cover a broad spectrum of minimally invasive tumour therapy, computer-assisted surgery and interventions, stereotactic interventions including also brachytherapy and the application of image fusion for diagnostic and interventional purposes.
Picture gallery
Past winners
| Year | Winner | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Reto Bale for his work on stereotactic thermal tumor ablation with image fusion for intraprocedural treatment validation. |
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| 2023 | Yuji Okuno for his pioneering work on the treatment of chronic musculoskeletal inflammation and pain. | |||
| 2022 | William T. Kuo for his work on the Excimer laser-assisted removal of embedded IVC filters. | |||
| 2021 | Ulrich Speck and Bruno Scheller for their work on using drug-coated balloons (DCB) for the local treatment of intimal hyperplasia. | |||
| 2020 | Frédéric Deschamps for his work on percutaneous fixation by internal cemented-screw in bone cancer patients | |||
| 2019 | Boris Guiu and Mathieu T. Boulin for their work on Idarubicin as Anticancer Agent for Transarterial Chemoembolisation (TACE) of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) | |||
| 2018 | M. Itkin for his development of new imaging and intervention techniques of the lymphatic system | |||
| 2017 | Hans Henkes for his pioneering development of cerebral stent thrombectomy in the management of acute ischemic stroke | |||
| 2017 | MRCLEAN trialists for their groundbreaking trial on endovascular treatment for acute ischemic stroke | |||
| 2016 | F. Carnevale for his pioneering work on prostate embolisation | |||
| 2015 | P. Bize, G. Borchard, A. Denys, K. Fuchs and O. Jordan for their research on drug-eluting beads loaded with anti-angiogenic agents for chemoembolisation | |||
| 2014 | M.G.E.H. Lam, J.F.W. Nijsen and M.A.A.J. van den Bosch for their development of the Holmium-166 microspheres and assessing safety and maximum tolerated radiation dose | |||
| 2013 | S. Lerouge and G. Soulez for their development of an embolizing sclerosing hydrogel for the treatment of endoleaks, vascular malformations and venous disease | |||
| 2012 | A. Bolia and J.A. Reekers for their development and promotion of subintimal angioplasty | |||
CIRSE would like to warmly thank the R.W. Günther Foundation for funding the award.
