Does ionizing radiation have medical applications?
Ionizing radiation has multiple applications in the field of medicine. The specialty called radiology uses X-rays from a cathode-ray tube to perform multiple kinds of radiological diagnostic scans. The nuclear medicine specialty uses different kinds of nonencapsulated (in liquid or gaseous form) isotopes that are administered to patients or used in the laboratory in analytical tests for mostly diagnostic purposes. In the field of therapy, ionizing radiation is used to treat malignant tumors, in a specialty now called radiotherapy. In addition to these three specialties, ionizing radiation from radioactive isotopes is extensively used in the field of medical research, and a large number of kinetic and metabolic studies have been performed on human and animal physiology by means of radiotracers. The extensive development of these specialties is due on one hand to a more thorough knowledge of physics and radiation applications, and on the other to the constant advances in radiation produc
