Sven Ivar Seldinger (19 April 1921 – 21 February 1998), was a

radiologist Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiat ...

from

Mora Municipality, Sweden Mora Municipality (''Mora kommun'') is a municipality in Dalarna County in central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Mora. The present municipality was created in 1971, when four older municipal entities were amalgamated. Localities ...

. In 1953, he introduced the

Seldinger technique The Seldinger technique, also known as Seldinger wire technique, is a medical procedure to obtain safe access to blood vessels and other hollow organs. It is named after Sven Ivar Seldinger (1921–1998), a Swedish radiologist who introduced th ...

to obtain safe access to

blood vessel The blood vessels are the components of the circulatory system that transport blood throughout the human body. These vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to the tissues of the body. They also take waste and carbon dioxide away ...

s and other hollow organs.

Biography

Sven Ivar Seldinger was born on 19 April 1921 in Dalarna, Sweden. He was born to a family who had long run the local Mora Mechanical Workshop. He first began his medical training in 1940 at the

Karolinska Institute The Karolinska Institute (KI; sv, Karolinska Institutet; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led Medical school, medical university in Solna Municipality, Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden. ...

. After graduating medical school in 1948, he went on to specialize in radiology. While attending at the Karolinska Hospital he came up with an idea of how to administer a

catheter In medicine, a catheter (/ˈkæθətər/) is a thin tubing (material), tube made from medical grade materials serving a broad range of functions. Catheters are medical devices that can be inserted in the body to treat diseases or perform a surgi ...

that would be able to reach every human

artery An artery (plural arteries) () is a blood vessel in humans and most animals that takes blood away from the heart to one or more parts of the body (tissues, lungs, brain etc.). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the pu ...

. He was qualified with the title of Docent in Radiology in 1967 after successfully defending his thesis on percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography. He was later able to demonstrate, using "phantom experiments", how one could insert a catheter into the

femoral artery The femoral artery is a large artery in the thigh and the main arterial supply to the thigh and leg. The femoral artery gives off the deep femoral artery or profunda femoris artery and descends along the anteromedial part of the thigh in the f ...

and reach both the

parathyroid Parathyroid glands are small endocrine glands in the neck of humans and other tetrapods. Humans usually have four parathyroid glands, located on the back of the thyroid gland in variable locations. The parathyroid gland produces and secretes pa ...

and

renal arteries The renal arteries are paired arteries that supply the kidneys with blood. Each is directed across the crus of the diaphragm, so as to form nearly a right angle. The renal arteries carry a large portion of total blood flow to the kidneys. Up to a ...

. In 1975, the New York Academy of Medicine awarded Seldinger the Valentine award. The Swedish Association of Medical Radiology and the German Roentgen Association both awarded him an honorary membership to their organizations. In 1984 Seldinger received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the Faculty of Medicine at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

, Sweden. Seldinger died at home in Dalarna, Sweden on 21 February 1998. He is survived by his wife and three daughters.

The Seldinger technique

The Seldinger technique is a medical procedure to obtain safe access to blood vessels and other hollow organs. It is used for

angiography Angiography or arteriography is a medical imaging technique used to visualize the inside, or lumen, of blood vessels and organs of the body, with particular interest in the arteries, veins, and the heart chambers. Modern angiography is perfor ...

, insertion of

chest drain A chest tube (also chest drain, thoracic catheter, tube thoracostomy or intercostal drain) is a surgical drain that is inserted through the chest wall and into the pleural space or the mediastinum in order to remove clinically undesired substan ...

s and

central venous catheters A central venous catheter (CVC), also known as a central line(c-line), central venous line, or central venous access catheter, is a catheter placed into a large vein. It is a form of venous access. Placement of larger catheters in more centra ...

, insertion of PEG tubes using the push technique, insertion of the leads for an

artificial pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eit ...

implantable cardioverter-defibrillator An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) or automated implantable cardioverter defibrillator (AICD) is a device implantable inside the body, able to perform defibrillation, and depending on the type, cardioversion and pacing of the h ...

, and numerous other interventional medical procedures. Seldinger first published this technique for obtaining percutaneous access to blood vessels in 1953 for the publication ''Acta Radiologica''. This has been described as a "substantial refinement" of a procedure first described by Dr. P.L. Farinas in 1942. This new technique introduced the practice of using a flexible wire to guide a catheter to previous unreachable vascular areas of the body.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seldinger, Sven Ivar 1921 births 1998 deaths Swedish radiologists 20th-century Swedish inventors Karolinska Institute alumni

Biography

The Seldinger technique

See also

References