Preface

Currently there are multiple factors in medical history that are playing a pivotal role in reducing the mortality rate in human beings, including diagnosis of hard-to-diagnose diseases from the molecular level to the advanced phase using radioisotopes. Radioisotopes, individually or in tagging with molecule/s to develop radiopharmaceuticals, are practiced clinically either for diagnostic or therapeutic procedures in the field of nuclear medicines. Nuclear medicine has been developed over the past 50 years through a unique partnership among the world laboratories, academia, and industry. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reported that nuclear medicine plays an essential role in medical specialties from cardiology to oncology to neurology and it covers a \$1.7 billion industry. Further, the Society of Nuclear Medicine estimated that alone in the USA more than 20 million nuclear medicine procedures are performed annually. This book is a brief look into medically interesting radioisotopes and their utilization in the field of nuclear medicine. The book consists of two main sections; "Medical Isotopes Used in SPECT and PET Imaging" and "Nuclear Medicine Mechanism, Imaging and Therapy". The first section comprises of three chapters entitled "Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) Radiopharmaceuticals", "Gallium-68: Radiolabeling of Radiopharmaceuticals for PET Imaging – A Lot to Consider", and "Parathyroid Scintigraphy". While the second section also comprises three chapters entitled "Theranostics – New era in Nuclear Medicine and Radiopharmaceuticals", "Localization Mechanisms of Radiopharmaceuticals", and "Radiolabelled Nanoparticles for Brain Targeting".

> **Dr. Syed Ali Raza Naqvi** Associate Professor of Radioanalytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

> **Dr. Muhammad Babar Imran (MBBS)** Director of Punjab Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Section 1

Medical Isotopes Used in

SPECT and PET Imaging

**1**

Section 1
