The predecessor of the Department of Interventional Therapy of Zhongshan Hospital was the Department of Radiology of Zhongshan Hospital, which was founded as the Interventional Radiology Diagnostic and Treatment Center by Prof. Lin Gui in 1988, and the first independently-managed interventional radiology ward in China was established in 1991, with Prof. Lin Gui being the first person in charge of the Department of Interventional Therapy. In May 2010, the former Department of Radiology was divided into Diagnostic Radiology and Interventional Radiology. Prof. Wang Jianhua was appointed as the Director of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and the Director of the Department of Interventional Therapy, and Prof. Yan Zhiping was appointed as the Deputy Director of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and the Deputy Director of the Department of Interventional Therapy. In March 2016, Prof. Zhiping Yan succeeded Prof. Jianhua Wang as the Head of the Department of Interventional Medicine.

Interventional medicine is an emerging medical discipline. Prof. Lin Gui, former President of Zhongshan Hospital and one of the pioneers and founders of interventional radiology in China, has led a team that has carried out research on selective abdominal and superior mesenteric arteriography and selective angiography of primary liver cancer since 1974. In 1983, Prof. Lin pioneered the theory of "dual blood supply for liver tumors" and "dual intervention" therapy in an international conference. After returning from Europe, Prof. Lin Gui successively carried out more than 10 interventional therapy projects for liver, stomach, lung and pancreatic tumors, multiple aortitis, etc. He pioneered the "Dual Interventional Therapy" for malignant obstructive jaundice and "Gelatin sponge and iodine oil emulsion hepatic artery embolization", which increased the one-year survival rate of patients with middle- and late-stage liver cancer from "0" to 62%. In the early 1990s, he led Prof. Yan Zhiping to take the lead in conducting experimental and clinical research on 90Y glass microspheres for the treatment of liver cancer in China. He has been responsible for 6 important national and Shanghai scientific research projects, published 129 papers at home and abroad, and edited 3 books, including Interventional Radiology, and the related research results were awarded the Ministry of Health's "Going to the World Prize" in 1987, and the Second Prize of the Ministry of Health's Scientific and Technological Progress in 1988. Prof. Lin established the Interventional Radiology Group of the Chinese Society of Radiology at the Second National Congress of Interventional Radiology in 1990 and served as the head of the group, and founded the Journal of Interventional Radiology in 1992.

After Prof. Lin Gui, our department has conducted in-depth basic and clinical research on comprehensive interventional diagnosis and treatment of primary liver cancer, and has undertaken dozens of scientific research projects on interventional diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer, including the National "Ninth Five-Year Plan" research projects, clinical key projects of the Ministry of Health, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The national "Ninth Five-Year Plan" scientific and technological research project led by Sun Yat-sen Hospital, "Application Research on Comprehensive Interventional Therapy for Liver Cancer", was awarded the First Prize of Shanghai Scientific and Technological Progress in 2002 and the Second Prize of National Scientific and Technological Progress in Chinese Medicine. The project of "A series of research on new imaging and interventional radiology techniques in the diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer", which was mainly completed by Prof. Zhou Kangrong and Prof. Wang Jianhua, was awarded the Second Prize of National Scientific and Technological Progress in 2005.

In 1981, our department became the first department in China to establish a doctoral degree program. In 1996, it was approved as a national continuing education base for radiology and interventional therapy, and in 1997, it was the first department in China to be approved as a key discipline of imaging by the Ministry of Health, and a key discipline in the "211 Project" and "985 Project" of Shanghai Medical University and Fudan University. Shanghai Medical University, Fudan University "211 Project" and "985" key disciplines. The research project of "Imaging Diagnosis and Comprehensive Interventional Treatment of Liver Cancer" has been funded by the Key Clinical Discipline Project of Medical Institutions under the Ministry of Health for three consecutive times.

Imaging Medicine and Nuclear Medicine" is a key discipline of the Ministry of Education of China, and "Interventional Imaging" is a key discipline of Shanghai Municipality. The Department of Medical Imaging is a key clinical specialty of the National Health Planning Commission and a "top priority" construction project (Class B) of the Shanghai Municipal Health Planning Commission. The department is the key department of Shanghai Medical Imaging Research Institute and the main cooperation department of Haixi Liver Tumor Clinical Medical Center. Director Yan Zhiping, who is the leader of the department, has served as the chairman of several academic organizations in China.

The Department of Interventional Therapy has more than 30 employees, including 26 doctors, 6 full-time technicians and 4 full-time nurses. Among the 26 physicians, there are 8 full-time senior titles and 8 associate titles; 15 of them have doctoral degrees, accounting for 68.2% of all full-time physicians. There are 4 supervisors for doctoral students and 4 supervisors for master's students. There is 1 interventional ward with 72 open beds. 20 nurses are working in the interventional ward. There are 20 nurses in the interventional ward, including 1 deputy chief nurse, 5 chief nurses, 6 nurse practitioners and 8 nurses. There are independent management of interventional operating rooms, 8 operating rooms, 3 local treatment rooms, 8 large DSA diagnostic instruments, 1 CT machine, 3 microwave therapeutic instruments, 1 radiofrequency therapeutic instrument, 4 color ultrasound diagnostic instruments. There are 4 subspecialties under our department, the director of liver tumor subspecialty, Dr. Qu Xudong, the research direction of subspecialty is interventional comprehensive diagnosis and treatment of liver malignant tumors and scientific research. Dr. Luo Jianjun, the director of vascular subspecialty, the research direction of subspecialty is interventional diagnosis and treatment of benign and malignant diseases of blood vessels and scientific research. Dr. Chen Yi, Director of Biliary and Pancreatic Subspecialty, the sub-specialty research direction is biliary tract and pancreatic disease interventional comprehensive diagnosis and treatment and scientific research. Dr. Lingxiao Liu, Director of the Subspecialty, the sub-specialty's research direction is ablation diagnosis and treatment and scientific research.