Radiology is a medical specialty that employs the use of imaging

Medical imaging

Medical imaging is the technique and process used to create images of the human body for clinical purposes or medical science...

 to both diagnose and treat disease visualized within the human body. Radiologists use an array of imaging technologies (such as x-ray radiography

Radiography

Radiography is the use of X-rays to view a non-uniformly composed material such as the human body. By using the physical properties of the ray an image can be developed which displays areas of different density and composition....

, ultrasound

Ultrasound

Ultrasound is cyclic sound pressure with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is thus not separated from "normal" sound based on differences in physical properties, only the fact that humans cannot hear it. Although this limit varies from person to person, it is...

, computed tomography (CT), nuclear medicine

Nuclear medicine

In nuclear medicine procedures, elemental radionuclides are combined with other elements to form chemical compounds, or else combined with existing pharmaceutical compounds, to form radiopharmaceuticals. These radiopharmaceuticals, once administered to the patient, can localize to specific organs...

, positron emission tomography

Positron emission tomography

Positron emission tomography is nuclear medicine imaging technique that produces a three-dimensional image or picture of functional processes in the body. The system detects pairs of gamma rays emitted indirectly by a positron-emitting radionuclide , which is introduced into the body on a...

 (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance imaging , or magnetic resonance tomography is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize detailed internal structures...

 (MRI)) to diagnose or treat diseases. Interventional radiology

Interventional radiology

Interventional radiology is a specialty of radiology, in which image-guided procedures are used to diagnose and treat a multitude of diseases across all body systems...

 is the performance of (usually minimally invasive

Invasiveness of surgical procedures

There are three main categories which describe the invasiveness of surgical procedures. These are: non-invasive procedures, minimally invasive procedures, and invasive procedures ....

) medical procedures with the guidance of imaging technologies. The acquisition of medical imaging

Medical imaging

Medical imaging is the technique and process used to create images of the human body for clinical purposes or medical science...

 is usually carried out by the radiographer or radiologic technologist

Radiologic technologist

A radiologic technologist, also known as medical radiation technologist and as radiographer, performs imaging of the human body for diagnosis or treating medical problems...

.
The following imaging modalities are used in the field of diagnostic radiology:
Radiographs

Radiography

Radiography is the use of X-rays to view a non-uniformly composed material such as the human body. By using the physical properties of the ray an image can be developed which displays areas of different density and composition....

 (or roentgenographs, named after the discoverer of x-rays, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen) are produced by the transmission of x-rays through a patient to a capture device then converted into an image for diagnosis.