SCFHS Nuclear Medicine Technologist exam questions

The Nuclear Medicine Technologist exam in every GCC country

From each regulator's own exam pages; anything a regulator does not publish says so. Assessment mode also depends on your licence title, so confirm your route on your eligibility notice.

12 worked Nuclear Medicine Technologist practice questions

Original exam-style questions from the bank, spread across the blueprint domains. They are not real or recalled exam questions. Try each one, then open the answer for the rationale and reference. None of them appear in the free mock exam, so reading them will not spoil it.

1. Question 1 · Clinical Procedures

   In diuretic renography, a washout half-time after furosemide of what duration suggests obstruction?

   1. ALess than 10 minutes
   2. BAbout 12 minutes
   3. CAbout 15 minutes
   4. DMore than 20 minutes
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: D. More than 20 minutes

   A half-time above 20 minutes indicates obstruction, below 10 minutes is normal and 10 to 20 minutes is indeterminate. Values within 10 to 15 minutes are therefore normal or indeterminate.

   Reference: Waterstram-Rich and Gilmore, Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT: Technology and Techniques, 8th ed. (2017)

2. Question 2 · Clinical Procedures

   What should a patient do during the uptake period after an FDG injection for oncology PET?

   1. AWalk on a treadmill to speed up the tracer distribution
   2. BChew gum to keep the salivary glands stimulated throughout
   3. CRest quietly in a warm, dim room and avoid talking or chewing
   4. DPerform neck and shoulder exercises to reduce muscle stiffness
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: C. Rest quietly in a warm, dim room and avoid talking or chewing

   Resting and staying warm limits FDG uptake in skeletal muscle and brown fat that could mask or mimic disease. Exercise, chewing and neck exercises raise muscle uptake and create artefacts.

   Reference: Boellaard et al., FDG PET/CT: EANM procedure guidelines for tumour imaging, version 2.0 (2015)

3. Question 3 · Image Interpretation and Image Artifact

   A metal belt buckle lies over the abdomen during a bone scan. How does it appear on the image?

   1. AIntense focal hot spot
   2. BLinear streak of increased uptake
   3. CPhotopenic defect
   4. DNo change in the image
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: C. Photopenic defect

   Metal attenuates photons and produces a cold defect. A hot spot would suggest contamination or true uptake. Streaks and unchanged images are not typical for attenuating objects.

   Reference: Waterstram-Rich and Gilmore, Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT: Technology and Techniques, 8th ed. (2017)

4. Question 4 · Patient Care

   A breastfeeding mother is referred for I-131 treatment. What is the correct advice?

   1. APump and discard milk for 24 hours, then resume feeding
   2. BStop breastfeeding permanently for this child and defer therapy until lactation ends
   3. CContinue breastfeeding with a barrier over the breast
   4. DBreastfeed at night and discard the daytime milk
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: B. Stop breastfeeding permanently for this child and defer therapy until lactation ends

   I-131 concentrates in breast milk and gives the infant thyroid a high dose, so breastfeeding stops before therapy, and resuming for the same child is not advised. Short interruption is enough only for some Tc-99m agents.

   Reference: Waterstram-Rich and Gilmore, Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT: Technology and Techniques, 8th ed. (2017)

5. Question 5 · Patient Care

   During an FDG injection, the technologist notices infiltration at the injection site. What is the best response?

   1. ADocument it, notify the physician and record the site on the report
   2. BIgnore it, because FDG is not harmful to tissue at this dose
   3. CReinject through the same cannula to complete the dose
   4. DLeave the extravasation out of the report to avoid confusion
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: A. Document it, notify the physician and record the site on the report

   Extravasation reduces the delivered dose and can distort quantification and nodal uptake, so it is documented and the physician is informed. Ignoring it or hiding it harms interpretation, and reinjection through the infiltrated line repeats the problem.

   Reference: Boellaard et al., FDG PET/CT: EANM procedure guidelines for tumour imaging, version 2.0 (2015)

6. Question 6 · Physics and Radiation Safety

   According to ICRP Publication 103, what is the recommended occupational effective dose limit?

   1. A20 mSv per year averaged over five years
   2. B50 mSv per year with no averaging period
   3. C1 mSv per year for monitored workers
   4. D100 mSv over a whole working lifetime
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: A. 20 mSv per year averaged over five years

   ICRP 103 recommends 20 mSv per year averaged over defined five-year periods, with no more than 50 mSv in any single year. The 1 mSv figure is the public limit. A fixed 50 mSv per year without averaging is the older, higher limit, and a lifetime limit of 100 mSv is not used.

   Reference: ICRP Publication 103, The 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection

7. Question 7 · Physics and Radiation Safety

   A syringe shield attenuates Tc-99m 140 keV photons to one eighth of the unshielded level. How many half-value layers does it have?

   1. A3
   2. B2
   3. C4
   4. D8
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: A. 3

   Each half-value layer halves the exposure, so 1/8 is three halvings (1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2). Two layers give one quarter, four layers give one sixteenth, and eight is the reduction factor and not the number of layers.

   Reference: Cherry, Sorenson and Phelps, Physics in Nuclear Medicine, 4th ed. (2012)

8. Question 8 · Radiopharmaceuticals

   By what mechanism does thallium-201 enter myocardial cells?

   1. APassive diffusion, held in mitochondria by membrane potential
   2. BActive transport by the Na-K ATPase pump
   3. CChemisorption onto hydroxyapatite crystals
   4. DCapillary blockade in the pulmonary bed
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: B. Active transport by the Na-K ATPase pump

   Thallium behaves like potassium and is taken up by viable myocytes through the Na-K ATPase pump, then redistributes over hours. Sestamibi enters by passive diffusion and is held in mitochondria. Chemisorption is the bone agent mechanism, and capillary blockade is the lung perfusion mechanism.

   Reference: Mettler and Guiberteau, Essentials of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, 7th ed. (2018)

9. Question 9 · Clinical Procedures

   A patient with a known right-to-left cardiac shunt needs a lung perfusion scan. How should the Tc-99m MAA be adjusted?

   1. AIncrease the number of particles to improve counts
   2. BInject with the patient sitting upright
   3. CReduce the number of particles injected
   4. DSwitch to Tc-99m sulfur colloid
   Show answer and explanation

   Correct answer: C. Reduce the number of particles injected

   With a right-to-left shunt, particles bypass the lung and reach the brain and kidneys, so the particle number is cut to reduce the embolic load. Increasing it raises the risk. Upright injection changes distribution but not the shunt. Sulfur colloid does not map perfusion.

   Reference: Christian and Waterstram, Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT: Technology and Techniques, 8th ed. (2017)

10. Question 10 · Clinical Procedures

    Which radiopharmaceutical is the best choice for estimating glomerular filtration in a renogram?

    1. ATc-99m DTPA, which is cleared by glomerular filtration
    2. BTc-99m MAG3, which is cleared mainly by tubular secretion
    3. CTc-99m DMSA, which binds to proximal tubule cells
    4. DTc-99m MDP, which is cleared through the skeleton
    Show answer and explanation

    Correct answer: A. Tc-99m DTPA, which is cleared by glomerular filtration

    DTPA is filtered by the glomerulus and is not secreted or reabsorbed, so it is used for GFR. MAG3 is cleared by tubular secretion and gives effective renal plasma flow. DMSA binds to the cortex and is used for scarring. MDP is a bone agent.

    Reference: Mettler and Guiberteau, Essentials of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, 7th ed. (2018)

11. Question 11 · Image Interpretation and Image Artifact

    A bone scan shows a focal intense spot in the pelvic region that disappears when the patient washes the skin and changes clothes. What is the cause?

    1. AA metastasis in the iliac bone
    2. BUrine contamination of the skin or clothing
    3. CFree pertechnetate in the injection
    4. DMisregistration between the CT and the emission data
    Show answer and explanation

    Correct answer: B. Urine contamination of the skin or clothing

    Tracer is excreted in urine, and a drop on skin or clothing gives an intense focal hot spot with no anatomical match. It disappears when cleaned. A true lesion would remain. Free pertechnetate gives stomach and thyroid uptake, and misregistration would not clear with washing.

    Reference: Ziessman, O'Malley and Thrall, Nuclear Medicine: The Requisites, 4th ed. (2014)

12. Question 12 · Patient Care

    During regadenoson stress, a patient develops severe chest pain with marked ST depression and falling blood pressure. Which drug reverses the effect?

    1. AIntravenous atropine given as a bolus
    2. BSublingual aspirin
    3. CIntravenous aminophylline
    4. DIntravenous furosemide
    Show answer and explanation

    Correct answer: C. Intravenous aminophylline

    Regadenoson and adenosine act on the A2A adenosine receptor, and aminophylline is a competitive antagonist that reverses the effects. Atropine treats bradycardia from vagal causes, aspirin is not an antidote and furosemide does not antagonise the agent.

    Reference: ASNC Imaging Guidelines for Nuclear Cardiology Procedures: Stress Protocols (2016)

Nuclear Medicine Technologist reference books and guidelines

Every question in this bank names the textbook or guideline its answer rests on. These are the sources our Nuclear Medicine Technologist questions cite most often - the reading list to revise from alongside the bank.

Where your regulator publishes a reading list, use the editions it names. Exam questions are not taken from any one book.