Abstract

NUCLEAR MEDICINE AS RADIONUCLIDE IN RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS IN SCINTIGRAPHY

*Prof. Dr. Dhrubo Jyoti Sen

Abstract

Radiopharmaceuticals are a special class of drugs. They include diagnostic agents, such as molecular imaging probes, contrast agents or tracers, as well as agents that treat diseases, called radio therapeutics. A radiopharmaceutical contains a radioactive isotope that emits energy, which can be detected or used to provide an image (diagnostic agent) or is directly therapeutic within a diseased tissue. Millions of patients receive radiopharmaceuticals annually for a wide variety of medical procedures ranging from the assessment of cardiac function to staging and treatment of cancer. Diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals are administered to a patient and enable physicians and researchers to non-invasively see the biochemical activity of cells, to diagnose or stage disease, identify which patients are best suited for a particular treatment, and help monitor a patient’s response to treatment. The imaging probes selectively locate at the site of disease, and release positrons or gamma rays that can be detected and digitally imaged with specialized cameras, producing images through positron emission tomography (PET) or single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The probes accumulate at the site of disease and the images appear as colored or dark regions in partial or whole body structural images provided by computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC) currently markets and distributes diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals and is providing next generation imaging probes for our partners’ clinical trials. Therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals are administered to a patient to selectively seek out and deliver cell-killing radiation to the site of disease. These drugs are designed to bind selectively to specific biochemical protein receptors on or within cells at the site of the disease. Therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals can take many forms including highly selective proteins and antibodies, peptides or small molecules.

Keywords: Atomic number, Atomic weight, Isotope, Radioactive decay, Half life, Shelf life, ? particle emission, ? particle emission, ? particle emission, Becquerel, Curie, Radionuclide, Nuclear fission, Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Computerized Tomography (C