A century in the making: Medical imaging, nuclear medicine, and the transformation of global healthcare.

Abstract

This paper explores how the global mobility of healthcare professionals shapes the evolution of nuclear medicine through shifts in labour, logistics, and knowledge systems. It examines how credentialing asymmetries, fragile supply infrastructures, and uneven digital integration affect equitable access to innovation and practice. The analysis highlights how professional circulation generates both collaboration and structural exclusion, particularly when expertise crosses regulatory and institutional boundaries. It argues that mobility not only redistributes clinical skills but also redefines authority, standards, and epistemologies in medical imaging. By tracing these dynamics, the paper opens space for rethinking inclusion, accountability, and fairness in the global development of medical imaging and nuclear medicine.