Focal liver lesions are commonly encountered in clinical practice. To be able to differentiate potentially life-threatening lesions from clinically insignificant lesions, and to be able to treat them effectively are the two basic problems of a clinician who comes across such lesions. Percutaneous intervention of the liver with a needle enables a clinician to solve the above two problems in a minimally invasive manner. To date, there is a diversity of needle-related percutaneous interventional procedures that are applicable to the clinical management of patients with liver lesions, such as biopsy of focal lesions, drainage of abscesses, and ablation of tumors. Despite a reasonable safety and efficacy associated with these procedures, there are always grounds of further improvement in techniques and technology of needle-related percutaneous procedures to achieve an even better outcome. It was hypothesized that the application of needle-related interventional radiology to clinical management of focal liver lesions could be facilitated and extended with advancement and refinement in needle-related techniques and technology. This thesis was based on a series of nine studies that aimed to explore the potential of needle-related percutaneous interventions in the clinical management of focal liver lesions and to study the effect of the introduction of innovations in needle-related techniques and technology on such clinical applications. It was concluded that the hypothesis was confirmed. / Yu Chun Ho. / "April 2006." / Adviser: Anil Ahuja. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-08, Section: B, page: 5176. / Thesis (M.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-235). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / School code: 1307.