- What RTVI Means Here
- Who Issues It and How It Is Delivered
- Exam Format and Scoring
- The Three Examination Content Areas
- Eligibility: Education, Ethics and Clinical Experience
- Fees and Registration Mechanics
- What the 2025 Data Says
- Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Content Areas
- Keeping the Credential Active
- Frequently Asked Questions
- RTVI is this site's abbreviation for the ARRT postprimary credential in Vascular Interventional Radiography (VI).
- The exam has 210 questions: 160 scored and 50 unscored pilot items, delivered at Pearson VUE test centers.
- Procedures carries 112 of the 160 scored questions, far more than Patient Care (22) or Image Production (26).
- You need at least 200 verified procedure repetitions plus current ARRT Radiography certification and registration before testing.
What RTVI Means Here
On this site, RTVI stands for Registered Technologist - Vascular-Interventional Radiography. It refers to the credential awarded by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) in the discipline ARRT officially calls Vascular Interventional Radiography, abbreviated VI. One clarification matters up front: "RTVI" is the abbreviation this site uses for the credential. It is not ARRT's own discipline designation, and the same letters are used elsewhere for unrelated things. Everything in this article concerns the ARRT postprimary VI credential only.
The credential is postprimary, meaning it is added on top of a primary ARRT pathway rather than earned in place of one. It also stands apart from neighboring credentials that sound similar. It is not Cardiac Interventional Radiography, not Vascular Sonography, and not the CCI RCIS credential. Each of those has its own requirements and its own examination. If you want shorter explainers on the naming, see What Does RTVI Stand For? and RTVI Meaning.
Who Issues It and How It Is Delivered
ARRT sets the eligibility rules, writes the content specifications, and awards the credential. The examination itself is delivered by Pearson VUE at its test centers. You work through ARRT for your application and eligibility, then schedule your sitting through the Pearson VUE channel once ARRT clears you.
The controlling document for what is tested is the Vascular Interventional Radiography Examination Content Specifications, board approved in July 2022 and effective July 1, 2023. Any prep material that predates that effective date, or that does not map to these specifications, deserves skepticism. The specifications are the closest thing to a syllabus that exists, and a good RTVI study guide should be built directly from them.
Exam Format and Scoring
The VI examination is computer-based and closed book. Here is how the sitting breaks down:
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total questions | 210 |
| Scored questions | 160 |
| Unscored pilot questions | 50 |
| Examination answering time | 210 minutes |
| Total appointment time | 230 minutes (includes tutorial, nondisclosure agreement and survey) |
| Delivery | Pearson VUE test center |
| Passing score | 75 on ARRT's 1-99 scaled-score range |
Question styles
Most items are single-best-answer multiple choice. ARRT's handbook also describes alternative formats, including multiple-response items (select all that apply) and ordered-response items (arrange steps in sequence), and some questions are image-based. For a vascular interventional exam, image-based items are a natural fit for angiographic anatomy, catheter and device recognition, and procedural findings. Expect to interpret what you see rather than recall a label.
Test-day rules that affect strategy
- You must answer each item before advancing, but you can flag it and return later.
- Basic and scientific on-screen calculators are available, and Pearson can supply a basic four-function calculator on request. Personal calculators are prohibited.
- The 50 pilot items are mixed in and are not identified, so treat every question as if it counts.
Candidates get three examination attempts within three years of the opening of the initial examination window. That limit makes your first sitting worth taking seriously. If you are checking scheduling windows, RTVI Exam Dates 2026 covers the logistics.
The Three Examination Content Areas
ARRT organizes the scored questions into three major content categories. The allocations below are official counts out of 160 scored questions. Think of them as the real weighting of the exam, because they tell you where the points are. For a deeper breakdown, see the complete guide to the RTVI exam domains.
| Domain | Scored Questions (of 160) |
|---|---|
| Patient Care | 22 |
| Image Production | 26 |
| Procedures | 112 |
Domain 1: Patient Care (22 questions)
This is the smallest category, but it covers the clinical judgment that protects patients during invasive vascular work.
- Assessing patients and preparing them for procedures
- Monitoring during and after procedures, and recognizing complications
- Medications, contrast media considerations and emergency response
- Sterile technique and infection control in the interventional suite
Domain 2: Image Production (26 questions)
This category covers how images are acquired and optimized in a fluoroscopic angiography environment. Radiation protection lives here, not in a separate safety domain.
- Fluoroscopic and angiographic equipment and imaging techniques
- Image quality, acquisition parameters and image-processing concepts
- Radiation protection principles for patients, staff and yourself
- Contrast delivery equipment as it relates to image acquisition
Domain 3: Procedures (112 questions)
Seven in every ten scored questions come from this category. It splits into three official subareas:
- Vascular Diagnostic Procedures (41): diagnostic angiography and the anatomy, access and imaging that support it
- Vascular Interventional Procedures (41): therapeutic work, including the devices, techniques and indications a technologist must recognize and prepare for
- Nonvascular Procedures (30): interventional procedures outside the vascular system that still fall within the VI scope
Key Takeaway
Procedures is not just the biggest category; each of its vascular subareas (41 questions apiece) is worth more than Patient Care and Image Production combined would be if you treated them as one-third each. Allocate your study hours roughly in proportion to these counts, then add extra time wherever your own clinical exposure is thin.
Eligibility: Education, Ethics and Clinical Experience
This is the part of the process that catches candidates off guard, because you cannot simply register and test. ARRT requires several things to be in place first. A fuller walkthrough is in RTVI Requirements 2026, but the essentials are:
- Current ARRT certification and registration in Radiography. Holding Nuclear Medicine Technology or Radiation Therapy alone is not a supporting credential for VI.
- Ethics compliance. You must meet ARRT's ethics requirements.
- Structured education. Complete 16 hours of structured education within the 24 months before you apply, with at least one credit in each major content category.
- Current BLS certification from an ARRT-recognized provider.
- Clinical experience: at least 200 verified procedure repetitions within the 24-month eligibility window.
How the 200 repetitions break down
- At least 50 in vascular diagnostic procedures
- At least 50 in vascular interventional procedures
- At least 50 in nonvascular procedures
- 50 additional repetitions from any of those categories
ARRT's guidance is to record 5-10 repetitions per selected procedure and to log no more than 10 procedures per day. This keeps your log varied rather than padded with one routine case.
Who verifies your experience
A qualified ARRT-certified and registered technologist, supervisor or interpreting physician must verify your repetitions. For postprimary credentials, the verifier does not need to have directly observed the work and may verify remotely. That flexibility helps candidates whose supervisors work off-site, but the verifier still needs to be someone who can credibly attest to your involvement.
Because these requirements are tied to hands-on cases in an interventional suite, the credential naturally attracts technologists who already work in angiography, IR and related vascular settings. For where that experience tends to lead, see RTVI jobs and the broader RTVI training overview.
Fees and Registration Mechanics
The fee structure is straightforward:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Initial application | $225 USD |
| Examination reapplication | $200 USD |
| Annual renewal (all ARRT credentials combined) | $65 USD |
The renewal fee is the same regardless of how many ARRT credentials you hold, so adding VI does not multiply your yearly cost. If you want the complete picture, including incidental costs like education and travel to a test center, see RTVI Certification Cost 2026. Fees can change, so confirm against ARRT's current fee page before you submit anything.
What the 2025 Data Says
ARRT's Annual Exam Report for 2025 lists a 61.2% first-time candidate pass rate, based on 454 first-time candidates. Two cautions apply. First, 454 is a modest sample, so treat the figure as a general indicator rather than a precise forecast of your own odds. Second, first-time candidates here have already cleared a meaningful barrier: they have logged 200 procedures and completed structured education, so they are not a random cross-section of technologists.
One source discrepancy is worth noting. The 2025 annual report's introduction lists a July 2024 revision date, while the dedicated content specifications and ARRT's announcement establish July 1, 2023 as the effective date. For scoping what is tested, the specifications control. More analysis is in RTVI Pass Rate 2026 and How Hard Is the RTVI Exam?.
Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Content Areas
Because the question counts are so lopsided, your calendar should be too. Here is one way to order the work, keyed to the three categories rather than to generic study habits:
Image Production first
- Fluoroscopy and angiography equipment, acquisition parameters and radiation protection
- Do this early because these concepts underpin how you read every procedural image later
Procedures, diagnostic then interventional
- Vascular diagnostic procedures (41 questions): anatomy, access, imaging and contrast use
- Vascular interventional procedures (41 questions): devices, techniques and what you would prepare for each case
Nonvascular procedures
- The 30 nonvascular questions, which tend to be thinnest in candidates who work mostly in vascular cases
Patient Care plus mixed review
- Monitoring, medications and complication recognition
- Timed mixed sets that include image-based and multiple-response items
Start with Image Production because it is foundational and compact. Spend the longest stretch on Procedures because that is where the points are. Leave Patient Care for the end because the material is the most intuitive for working technologists and benefits from a fresh review right before test day. When you are ready to turn this into a concrete plan, the RTVI study guide and the RTVI cheat sheet give you a framework and a quick-reference companion, and the practice tests on the main site let you check your readiness against exam-style questions.
Keeping the Credential Active
Earning VI is not a one-time event. To stay certified and registered, you need:
- Annual renewal at $65, regardless of how many ARRT credentials you hold
- Continuing ethics compliance
- 24 approved CE credits per two-year biennium. This is per biennium, not per credential, so one body of CE can serve all your ARRT credentials
Credentials earned on or after January 1, 2011 also fall under Continuing Qualifications Requirements (CQR), a ten-year cycle. It involves a professional profile, a structured self-assessment, and any CE the self-assessment prescribes. ARRT also permits accepting the maximum CQR CE prescription instead of taking the self-assessment, which some technologists prefer. Since the VI credential postdates 2011, CQR applies to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
On this site, RTVI means Registered Technologist - Vascular-Interventional Radiography. It is the site's abbreviation for the ARRT postprimary credential in the Vascular Interventional Radiography (VI) discipline, not ARRT's own designation.
Yes. You must hold current ARRT certification and registration in Radiography. Nuclear Medicine Technology or Radiation Therapy alone is not a supporting credential for VI.
There are 160 scored questions plus 50 unscored pilot questions. Procedures dominates with 112 scored questions, split into 41 vascular diagnostic, 41 vascular interventional and 30 nonvascular. Patient Care has 22 and Image Production has 26.
No. The 75 is a scaled score on ARRT's 1-99 range. It reflects a standard set for the exam rather than a straight percentage of correct answers.
No. You must be physically present in an active primary scrub or circulating role throughout the procedure. Observation alone does not qualify, and no more than 10 procedures per day may be logged.
You get three examination attempts within three years of the opening of the initial examination window. A reapplication after an unsuccessful attempt costs $200 USD.