Bone scans and myocardial perfusion imaging (sometimes called a nuclear stress test) are the most common types of nuclear medicine imaging. These exams can look at the whole body or a specific area of concern using a small amount of radioactive material (called a radiopharmaceutical) injected into an arm vein that travels through your bloodstream into your bones, or to the heart in the case of myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI).

A gamma camera detects the radiation and a computer interprets it to create images of the areas of concern.