Radiopharmaceuticals

This review of the latest techniques and developments indicates the importance of radiopharmaceutical techniques in the development of drug compounds. It presents practical demonstrations, offers practical exercises, as well as the underlying theoretical considerations: it will supplement existing (mostly American) texts in this subject, since most industrial pharmaceutical companies have a keen interest in the area and most pharmaceutical courses include the subject at degree level. The contributors, each selected for their expertise in a particular field, emphasise the pharmaceutical applications throughout. They review targetting aspects, including cell and protein labelling, and discuss radiotracers in testing dosage forms and formulation studies. Safety and legislation are considered, with reviews of handling techniques, radiation monitoring, radiochromatography and the use of computer techniques. The chapters are based on material presented at a meeting held at the renowned Chelsea Department of Pharmacy under the auspices of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.