Health Topic

Diagnostic Imaging

Diagnostic imaging refers to medical tests that create pictures of the inside of the body. They help providers understand health problems and make decisions about care.

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Also called: Imaging

Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

About Diagnostic Imaging

Diagnostic imaging refers to medical tests that create pictures of the inside of the body. These pictures help your health care provider see your organs, bones, blood vessels, and tissues. Imaging tests can help find the cause of symptoms, detect disease early, monitor an illness or injury, and guide treatment.

Different machines are used to create pictures inside your body. The type of imaging your provider uses depends on your symptoms and the part of your body being checked.

Common types of diagnostic imaging include:

  • X-rays
  • CT (computed tomography) scans
  • Nuclear medicine scans
  • MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans
  • Ultrasound

Diagnostic imaging tests help providers understand health problems and make decisions about care.

These tests may be used to:

  • Find health problems early
  • Learn what causes pain or other symptoms
  • Plan treatment
  • Monitor a condition or see how well treatment is working

Some imaging tests can also help guide medical procedures, such as placing catheters, stents, or other medical devices inside the body.

Each diagnostic imaging test is different, but many follow similar steps.

During an imaging test:

  • Some tests require you to change clothes or remove metal items, such as jewelry or glasses
  • Some tests require you to fast (not eat or drink) or drink contrast material (a substance that helps some parts of your body show up more clearly on the images)
  • Many imaging tests take only a short time
  • Some tests require you to stay still inside an imaging machine, which may feel uncomfortable
  • Some tests use a small amount of radiation

Always tell your provider if you are pregnant or think you may be pregnant.

After most imaging tests, you can return to normal activities right away. A specialist called a radiologist reviews the images and shares the results with your provider.

It sits within Diagnostic Tests.

The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Bioimaging.

When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.

Research on Diagnostic Imaging

11,570 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.

What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.

Research currently under way

Research already completed

Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.

Where to read more

Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.

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Medical subject headings

Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Diagnostic Imaging. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.

This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Diagnostic Imaging, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.