Radiometals in Diagnosis and Therapy

Radiometals are the mainstay of both diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine because the choice of radionuclide is primarily dictated by nuclear decay characteristics rather than chemistry. (99m)Tc is the most frequently used diagnostic radionuclide and requires coordination in a diversity of chemical disguises to permit imaging of a variety of tissues and disease states. Therapeutic nuclear medicine is less advanced but can provide significant benefits provided the radionuclide is accurately targetted.