Nuclear technology in the medical field has two primary applications, those being diagnostics and radiation treatment.  Many afflictions of the body are able to be diagnosed properly and more accurately with the use of X-ray technology and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).  Both these applications allow physicians to see inside the human body without having to cut it open to see where and what the affliction is.  Likewise, many diseases have been successfully cured and combatted with radiation treatments such as chemotherapy for cancer patients.

Medical treatment has run the gamut, historically, between religious affiliation, "voodoo" medical practices, home health cures, all the way up to the present, with modern medical practice supported with technological advances.  The medical field, like many other fields, is in constant transition.  Practices, treatments, and diagnoses that are in current practice today may be discarded tomorrow for a better approach, a more accurate way to treat the ailments the patient has.