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Radiopharmacy: Basics

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Basic Sciences of Nuclear Medicine

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Abstract

A radiopharmaceutical is a radioactive compound that has two components, a radionuclide and a pharmaceutical; it is used for the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases. All radiopharmaceuticals are legend drugs and are subject to all regulations that apply to other drugs. The difference between a radiochemical and a radiopharmaceutical is that the former is not administered to humans due to the possible lack of sterility and nonpyrogenicity; any material administered to humans must be sterile and nonpyrogenic. A radiopharmaceutical may be a radioactive element like 133Xe or a labeled compound such as 99mTc-labeled compounds [1].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. King Fahed Specialist Hospital, Dammam, KSA

    Tamer B. Saleh

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  1. Tamer B. Saleh
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Correspondence to Tamer B. Saleh .

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  1. Hammersmith Campus, Biological Imaging Centre, Imperial College London, Du Cane Road, London, W12 0NN, United Kingdom

    Magdy M. Khalil

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Saleh, T.B. (2010). Radiopharmacy: Basics. In: Khalil, M. (eds) Basic Sciences of Nuclear Medicine. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-85962-8_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-85962-8_2

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