Imaging explained

Imaging plays an important role in modern medicine. Modern imaging techniques – including X-rays, ultrasound, CT scans and MRI – can show structures inside your body in great detail.

 
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What is imaging?

Imaging is a range of tests used to create images of parts of the body. These can help:

  • screen for possible health conditions before symptoms appear
  • diagnose the likely cause of existing symptoms
  • monitor health conditions that have been diagnosed, or the effects of treatment for them.

Imaging is also called radiology. Doctors who specialise in imaging are called radiologists. 

There are many different types of imaging, such as X-rays, CT (computed tomography) scans, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and ultrasound. Each imaging type uses a different technology to create an image. 

This increasing range of imaging types provides health professionals with many options for showing what is happening inside your body.

Radiology technicians or imaging technologists are health professionals who are trained to use specific imaging types, such as radiographers for X-rays or sonographers for ultrasound imaging.