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From the Society of Nuclear Medicine
official Career Description:
If you have a keen interest in the health sciences and computer technology and are looking for a people-oriented career, consider Nuclear Medicine Technology!
Nuclear medicine combines chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer technology, and medicine in using radioactivity to diagnose and treat disease. Though there are many diagnostic techniques currently available, nuclear medicine uniquely provides information about both the structure and function of virtually every major organ system within the body. It is this ability to characterize and quantify physiologic function which separates nuclear medicine from other imaging modalities, such as x-ray. Nuclear medicine procedures are safe, they involve little or no patient discomfort and do not require the use of anesthesia.
The Technologist's Role
The Nuclear Medicine Technologist is a highly specialized healthcare professional who works closely with the nuclear medicine physician. Some of the technologist's primary responsibilities are to:
- Prepare and administer radioactive chemical compounds, known as radiopharmaceuticals
- Perform patient imaging procedures using sophisticated radiation-detecting instrumentation
- Accomplish computer processing and image enhancement
- Analyze biologic specimens in the laboratory
- Provide images, data analysis, and patient information to the physician for diagnostic interpretation.