Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a new biomaterial, selenomelanin, that can help protect people from radiation. The new substance, chemically synthesized and produced by bacteria, helps protect cells from radiation more effectively than other forms of melanin. One day, it may be used in sunscreens, medical treatments, or for long-term spaceflight as a radioprotective […]
Tag: Nuclear Medicine
World’s First PET/SPECT Scanner Developed Using Compton Camera
Nuclear medicine relies on two imaging modalities to assess internal function and diagnose disease. Positron emission tomography (PET) typically uses fluorine-18, a radiotracer that releases positrons, and a special scanner to detect the resulting gamma rays. Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is similar, but usually depends on injecting the technetium-99m radioisotope and a gamma camera […]
Method Makes PET Tracers out of Common Biomolecules
Researchers from the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed new radioactive tracers to track pharmaceuticals in the body and to image cancer. The findings, reported in journal Science, describe the new chemistry they have developed, along with data that demonstrate that the team was able to radioactively tag compounds that have […]
uEXPLORER Whole Body PET-CT Cleared by FDA for Clinical and Research Use
United Imaging Healthcare, a company out of Shanghai, China, won FDA clearance for its uEXPLORER combined Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Computed Tomography (CT) scanner. The device can perform whole-body scans using both imaging modalities at the same time. The system is expected to be used in both clinical practice, to spot cancers and to track disease progression, […]
SubtlePET Artificial Intelligence Software Enhances PET Scans, Saves Time in Scanner
Subtle Medical, a firm headquartered in Menlo Park, California, won both FDA clearance and the European CE Mark of approval to introduce its SubltePET system on both sides of the Atlantic. The system uses artificial intelligence techniques to improve the quality of fast positron-emission tomography (PET) scans, allowing patients to go through exams faster than before […]
First Images from EXPLORER Total-Body Positron Emission Tomography Scanner
An amazing new PET/CT scanner has produced its first images of human subjects, giving scientists and clinicians new opportunities to treat cancer and other diseases. The EXPLORER is a high sensitivity total-body positron emission tomography scanner developed by a collaboration of many different scientists. It is capable of imaging the entire human body in less […]
University of Missouri Research Reactor Now Supplying Iodine-131 for Thyroid Treatment
Medical radioisotopes are widely used in cancer treatment, but their production has been hampered to the point that obtaining them has become a challenge. The lack of Technetium-99m is probably the most widely known, but there’s also a shortage of Iodine-131 (I-131), a radioisotope commonly used for diagnosing and treating thyroid conditions because the thyroid absorbs […]
U.S. to Get Its Own Supply of Radioisotopes Thanks to Approval of RadioGenix System
A good deal of advanced medical imaging to spot cancer tumors, and help to diagnose coronary artery disease and other conditions, relies on injecting radioisotopes into the body whose location can be tracked. The most common is technetium-99m (Tc-99m), but it has been in short supply because there are only a few nuclear power stations […]
Quick and Easy Deuteration and Tritiation of Potential Compounds to Speed Drug Development
During the development of many drugs, radioactive markers and so-called stable labels, typically deuterium and tritium respectively, are often used to trace the destination of chemical compounds and their metabolites. This is a pretty easy thing to do in lab animals, once you have enough molecules of the compound you’re testing in which typical hydrogen […]
Targeted Radiotherapy Combined with Immunotherapy Kills 100% of Colorectal Cancer
Researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and from MIT are reporting the development of a new combination therapy that completely eliminates colon cancer, at least in laboratory mice. The technique is a type of radioimmunotherapy, which delivers radioactive particles directly to tumors on the backs of targeting antibodies that seek out those tumors. In their […]
New Nuclear Tracer to Help Better Manage Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms
An abdominal aortic aneurysm can have a number of related causes, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are one of those potential causes. MMP matrix enzymes have a useful role in a healthy body of breaking up the extracellular matrix during tissue growth, but sometimes they’re overproduced and are related to various connective tissue disorders, including abdominal […]
PET Tracer to Directly Detect Blood Clots
Researchers in Germany have developed a fluorine-based tracer compound that can bind with high affinity to small clots, allowing doctors to image them using positron emission tomography (PET). Blood clots can cause heart attacks and strokes. Doctors often need to find clots using imaging techniques, so that they can treat them or identify where thrombi […]
Siemens Biograph Horizon Flow Edition PET/CT with FlowMotion Cleared by FDA
Siemens won FDA clearance for its Biograph Horizon Flow edition, a budget friendly positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scanner that includes some advanced features of its more expensive cousin. The main selling point is that the new device includes FlowMotion continuous bed motion scanning technology, an offering that was previously introduced on Siemens Biograph mCT Flow […]
Siemens Unveils Symbia Intevo Bold SPECT/CT, a Scanner Built to Offer Multiple Scanning Applications
Siemens is unveiling a new SPECT/CT (single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography) system in the coming days at the annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging in Denver, Colorado. The Symbia Intevo Bold SPECT/CT can be used in either modality, allowing a hospital to offer SPECT and CT imaging on a single machine. […]