Contents



Preface

A radiopharmaceutical is a pharmaceutical product or drug that may exert spontaneous degradation of unstable nuclei with nuclear particles or photon emission. Radiopharmaceuticals may be used for research, diagnosis, therapy, and environmental purposes. Moreover, radiopharmaceuticals act as radioactive tracers among patients via gamma-ray emissions. The best-known example of a therapeutic radiopharmaceutical is iodide131 for thyroid ablation in patients with hyperthyroidism. In addition to diagnosis and therapy, radiopharmaceuticals are used in research to investigate the metabolism, bio-distribution, pharmacodynamics, and pharma-

This book examines the importance of radiopharmaceuticals as diagnostic agents to examine biochemical, molecular biology, physiological, or anatomical abnormalities in patients. Therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals may be administered internally for their selective effects on certain abnormal cells or organs. This book includes four chapters. Chapter 1 focuses on the fundamentals of radiopharmaceutical chemistry and preparation, and the environmental, pharmaceutical, diagnostic, therapeutic, and research applications of these products. Chapter 2 discusses fabrication, materials manipulation, and characterization of radiopharmaceuticals. Chapter 3 presents up-to-date applications of radiopharmaceuticals in preclinical studies Chapter 4 presents the most recent research in radiopharmaceutical applications in diagnosis and therapy, including molecular imaging with genetically programmed nanoparticles, radiopharmaceuticals in modern cancer therapy, and new trends in preparation, biodistribution, and pharmacokinetics of radiopharma-

The figure below presents the diagnostic, therapeutic, environmental, and indus-

cokinetics of certain drugs in nonradioactive form.

ceuticals in diagnosis and research.

trial applications of radiopharmaceuticals.
