Organs, imaging with radiopharmaceuticals

Owing to the short half-lives of the radioactive isotopes involved (e.g., t n of carbon-ll=20min, ty-i of fluorine-18 = 110min), radiopharmaceuticals for PET (and related SPECT) imaging are typically produced on-site daily or at facilities in close proximity to the PET imaging center. Radiopharmaceutical production typically requires trained radiochemists, with specific and expensive facilities. Moreover, the short-lived radionuclides involved means that radiochemical reactions must be fast, efficient, and amenable to automation, and new techniques that facilitate radiopharmaceutical production and the ability to meet clinical demand for PET tracers are in demand. Solid-phase synthesis is an attractive synthetic technique to the radiochemist as it bears many of these desirable characteristics. Despite this, solid-phase organic radiosynthesis (SPOR) is a relatively new... 

Hepatobiliary Tc radiopharmaceuticals are expected to demonstrate a highly specific liver uptake and biliary excretion. Other organs such as the kidneys should not interfere with the imaging of the liver and the biliary tract. The agents should show a rapid hepatocyte transit, clearing the radioactivity in the hepatocytes quickly into the... 

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