核医学利用放射性来诊断和治疗疾病。该医学专科提供有关体内几乎每个主要器官系统的结构和功能的信息。核医学程序是安全的，几乎不会或完全不会给患者带来不适，并且不需要使用麻醉。核医学技术人员负责准备和管理放射性药物，执行患者成像程序，完成计算机处理和图像增强功能，分析生物样本以及提供图像，数据分析和患者信息以供医师医疗团队成员进行诊断解释。
Nuclear medicine uses radioactivity to diagnose and treat disease. This medical specialty provides information about both the structure and the function of virtually every major organ system within the body. Nuclear medicine procedures are safe, involve little or no patient discomfort, and do not require the use of anesthesia. The nuclear medicine technologist is responsible for preparing and administering radiopharmaceuticals, performing patient-imaging procedures, accomplishing computer processing and image enhancement, analyzing biologic specimens, and providing images, data analysis, and patient information for diagnostic interpretation by the physician health care team member.