The only other obstacle to the wider use of PET-CT is the difficulty and cost of producing and transporting the radiopharmaceuticals used for PET imaging, which are usually extremely short-lived (for instance, the half life of radioactive Fluorine-18 (18F) used to trace glucose metabolism (using fluorodeoxyglucose, FDG) is two hours only.
Nuclear Radiologist: Average Salary: $180,000. Nuclear radiology is a radiology field that uses radioactive material in imaging, diagnosis and treatment. PET scans, CT scans and gamma imaging are the most commonly used equipment in this field.
Radiologic technologists perform diagnostic imaging examinations, such as x-rays, in order to help physicians diagnose the problems that are ailing their patients. The average radiologic technologist makes $54,340 per year and the career is growing at a rate of 28% of 2010-2012.