Interested in what’s inside the body? Ever wish you had X-ray vision to spot problems beyond the surface?

Aside from finding out what kind of cool socks your colleagues are wearing under their scrubs, those who study imaging technologies play an important role on the medical team. They help healthcare professionals locate problems below the surface, so doctors and nurses can properly plan and administer treatment for patients. These imaging professionals are known as radiography technicians or technologists.

Radiography technicians begin their education through an associate degree program, where they learn the fundamentals of radiography and imaging technology. These programs take a couple years of full-time study. After graduation, radiography professionals join healthcare teams to continue learning on the job each shift that they serve.

A few years into your professional imaging career, you may start to notice there are imaging machines beyond your current expertise. This is when many professionals become curious about other pathways in radiography they can expand into, as their careers progress. Because in modern healthcare, there’s more than one way to see what’s happening inside the human body.

After your initial radiography education, you may gravitate toward a corner of the field in which you’d like to specialize. Let’s unpack the most common types of radiography you can choose to concentrate or specialize in.

5 types of radiography specializations

Before diving into variations on the theme, let’s define radiography generally. Radiography is an encompassing term for imaging techniques that use radiation, such as X-rays, gamma rays, sound waves, magnetic fields, or other energy beams, to produce images of the inside of a human body or other object. It’s a common, vital, and non-invasive tool used predominantly across medicine, as well as manufacturing and security.

X-ray technology

What most likely comes to mind first when considering radiography is an X-ray. This technology uses ionizing radiation to produce 2D images and is most commonly used to detect broken bones, dental issues, or chest infections. It’s quick and painless, allowing a healthcare team to view a patient’s issue almost immediately and begin to make decisions right away.

Computed tomography (CT)

CT scans combine X-ray images taken from different angles to create cross-sectional views of the body, revealing more than a single X-ray image could by showing slices of bones, blood vessels, and soft tissues. Less intense than an MRI, doctors order CT scans to quickly diagnose diseases, spot internal injuries, and otherwise guide medical decisions.

Professionals overseeing this type of imaging may request the patient to swallow or receive an IV injection of what’s called “contrast material” (a special dye) beforehand that helps the images to show more clearly so doctors can diagnose accurately.

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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

MRIs use powerful magnets and radio waves rather than radiation to create more detailed images of soft tissues, organs, and joints. An MRI scanner, or machine, is much larger than other imaging equipment, and the patient must lie in a large, tube-shaped machine that creates a strong, concentrated magnetic field and sends radio waves through the body.

Technicians performing these procedures and operating these machines are in a separate room from the patient, running scanner controls and collecting data, but remain in visual and audio contact with the patient through a window and via speakers.

Sonography

Ultrasound technology, otherwise known as sonography, uses sound waves to capture not a still photograph, but real-time moving images of the body’s internal organs and blood flow.

While most commonly associated with monitoring pregnancies, ultrasound technology is also used to diagnose soft-tissue conditions, evaluate blood flow, and help healthcare teams make decisions surrounding delicate procedures without exposing patients to ionizing radiation.

Positron emission tomography (PET)

PET scans are a type of nuclear medicine that involve injecting a small amount of a radioactive tracer into a patient’s body to help clarify images of metabolic or functional activity in tissues and organs. A much more detailed type of imaging than previously discussed, PET scans are specialized tests that reveal how tissues and organs function at the cellular level.

While X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs reveal the physical structure of a patient’s organs, a PET scan shows their activity. Used primarily to detect cancer at the early stages, evaluate heart health, and diagnose brain disorders like Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, or brain tumors, PET scans are an outpatient procedure that takes a few hours at a clinic in total.

Is radiography right for you?

An interesting field with many branches to explore, radiography often appeals to those interested in science, technology, and working as part of a team of qualified healthcare professionals. It’s a stable profession, with a median salary of $78,980 per year for radiographers and MRI technicians, according to recent BLS data.

If you’re curious about different types of radiography and how you can join this fast-evolving field, explore the Radiography program at Goodwin University. We can help set you up with the fundamentals for long-term career success.