N exam guide
About the Nuclear Medicine Technology (N) exam
The ARRT Nuclear Medicine Technology examination assesses patient care, radiation safety, instrumentation and image production, and diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Preparation should connect radiopharmaceutical science, counting systems, quality control, acquisition, processing, anatomy, physiology, pathology, calculations, and safe patient management.
MedPorium is an independent education platform and is not affiliated with or endorsed by The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT). Exam details can change; confirm them with the official source before applying.
N exam format at a glance
- Questions
- 230
- 200 scored; 30 unscored
- Time
- 230 minutes of test time within a 250-minute appointment
- Delivery
- Computer-based testing at Pearson VUE test centers
Knowledge to review for the N exam
These foundations support the practical tasks in the official examination matrix.
Patient and radiopharmaceutical care
- History, pregnancy and lactation, labs, consent, access, medications, stress agents, glucose, monitoring, emergencies, and infection control
- Radiopharmaceutical preparation, identity, activity, route, biodistribution, uptake, clearance, interactions, adverse events, and documentation
Radiation safety and instrumentation
- Radiation biology, dose, time-distance-shielding, contamination, surveys, spills, waste, transport, records, regulations, and therapy precautions
- Gamma cameras, collimators, crystals, photomultipliers, SPECT, PET, CT, probes, dose calibrators, computers, corrections, and quality control
Imaging and therapy procedures
- Skeletal, cardiac, neurologic, pulmonary, endocrine, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, infection, tumor, lymphatic, and pediatric procedures
- PET and hybrid imaging, gating, quantitative studies, radionuclide therapy, administration, calculations, patient release, and follow-up
N examination matrix
The percentages below are the approximate exam-score weights published by The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT). Use them to allocate study time, then adjust for your own weak areas.
12%
Patient Care
Assess, prepare, educate, monitor, medicate, and support patients throughout nuclear medicine procedures.
- Review indication, history, pregnancy or lactation, labs, medications, contraindications, and prior imaging
- Prepare and administer pharmaceuticals or stress agents and monitor physiologic response
- Recognize emergencies, infiltration, adverse response, and special-population needs and document care
12.5%
Safety
Apply radiation protection, contamination control, regulation, transport, waste, and therapy precautions.
- Use time, distance, shielding, dosimetry, surveys, and ALARA for patients, personnel, and the public
- Prevent and manage contamination, spills, misadministration, and radioactive waste
- Apply package receipt, storage, records, transport, patient-release, and regulatory requirements
16.5%
Image Production
Operate, test, and troubleshoot counting and hybrid systems and process quantitative imaging data.
- Apply detector, collimator, energy, counting-statistics, SPECT, PET, and CT principles
- Perform gamma camera, dose calibrator, well counter, survey meter, PET, SPECT, and hybrid-system quality control
- Select acquisition and processing parameters and recognize attenuation, motion, scatter, misregistration, and equipment artifacts
59%
Procedures
The dominant area covers radiopharmacy, calculations, organ-system imaging, PET, hybrid studies, therapies, and procedure evaluation.
- Prepare, calculate, measure, verify, and administer radiopharmaceuticals
- Perform planar, dynamic, gated, SPECT, PET, hybrid, quantitative, and special-population studies
- Evaluate biodistribution, technical quality, normal variants, pathology, artifacts, therapy delivery, and follow-up
How to use this N diagnostic
The diagnostic samples all four currently effective areas. Review misses as patient or pharmaceutical care, radiation and regulatory safety, instrumentation or data processing, radiopharmacy, organ-system procedure, radionuclide therapy, calculation, quality control, or artifact.
High-yield N study priorities
Priority 1
Learn procedures as complete protocols
For each study, know indication, preparation, tracer, activity, route, uptake, acquisition, processing, normal distribution, pathology, and pitfalls.
Priority 2
Drill calculations with units
Practise decay, activity, volume, concentration, dosage, half-life, geometry, ejection fraction, clearance, and quantitative corrections.
Priority 3
Treat QC as clinical safety
Know the purpose, frequency, expected pattern, tolerance, corrective response, and patient impact of each test.
Priority 4
Separate imaging from therapy rules
Review consent, pregnancy, preparation, handling, contamination, release, written instructions, exposure limits, and follow-up for therapeutic administrations.
N exam FAQ
How many questions are on the ARRT Nuclear Medicine Technology examination?
The current examination format contains 230 questions: 200 scored questions and 30 unscored pilot questions. Pilot questions are mixed into the examination and are not identified.
How long is the Nuclear Medicine Technology examination?
230 minutes of test time within a 250-minute appointment. ARRT's appointment time also includes the tutorial, nondisclosure agreement, and survey where applicable.
How is the content outline weighted?
The currently effective specification is approximately Patient Care 12%, Safety 12.5%, Image Production 16.5%, Procedures 59%. These percentages are calculated from ARRT's scored-item counts, so rounding may prevent the displayed values from totaling exactly 100%.
What should I prioritize for Nuclear Medicine Technology?
Procedures is the largest scored content area at approximately 59%. Give it the largest share of practice, but continue sampling every area because the examination blueprint is broad.
What score is required to pass an ARRT examination?
ARRT reports examination results on a scaled score from 1 to 99, and a scaled score of 75 is required to pass. A 75 scaled score is not the same as answering 75% of questions correctly.
Does this diagnostic predict whether I will pass?
No. A 15-question diagnostic is a low-confidence baseline, not a validated pass prediction. Review every rationale and use larger mixed and content-specific sets to build a more stable readiness estimate.
Is MedPorium affiliated with ARRT?
No. MedPorium is an independent education platform and is not affiliated with or endorsed by The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists.
Review and official source
Clinical reviewer: R. R. Mumford
Exam format and matrix information were checked against the ARRT Nuclear Medicine Technology credential page and examination content specifications. Source reviewed October 15, 2026.
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