Radiopharmacy
The use of radioisotopes in medicine is certainly one of the most important social applications of Nuclear Energy. IPEN, and more particularly the Radiopharmacy Program, has a special place in the history of Nuclear Medicine in Brazil. The production of radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals for use in Nuclear Medicine started in the late 50’s at IPEN. There has been a significant increase in the demand for these products over the years and nowadays more than 30 products are listed at IPEN catalogue. The Radiopharmacy Program is organized in six areas: Production; Quality Assurance; Quality Control; Research, Development and Innovation; Infrastructure and Maintenance Support; and Cyclotron Accelerator. The Production area carries out the routine production of 99Mo-99mTc generator, PET, SPECT, and betta emitters ready to use radiopharmaceuticals for diagnostic and therapy and lyophilized kits 99m for labeling with Tc. Quality Assurance is responsible for the quality system management. The Quality Control executes all the necessary tests to release products for human use. Research, Development and Innovation develops new radiopharmaceuticals and improves production processes and applications. The Cyclotron Accelerator is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the cyclotrons and carries out the irradiation for cyclotron produced radioisotopes.
Electronic edition available through www.ipen.br.
