What type of procedures involve entry into living tissue for diagnostic and treatment purposes?

Invasive procedures involve entry into living tissue to perform diagnostic or therapeutic actions. These procedures can include surgeries, biopsies, and catheterizations, which all require penetrating the skin or mucous membranes to access internal structures or tissues. By virtue of their design, invasive procedures often provide direct access to the target area, which allows for more accurate diagnosis and treatment of various conditions.

Non-invasive procedures, on the other hand, do not require any penetration of the skin or entering into living tissue; instead, they may involve techniques such as imaging tests (e.g., X-rays or MRIs) that can gather information without causing any physical disruption to the body.

Minimally invasive procedures represent a subset of invasive techniques, where smaller incisions are made, often using tools that minimize damage to surrounding tissues. These types of procedures can still be classified under invasive if they penetrate the skin and enter the body.

Diagnostic procedures are a broader category that could include both invasive and non-invasive techniques aimed at determining the presence or nature of a disease, but when specifically discussing procedures that enter living tissue, the invasive designation is the most appropriate choice.