As the demand for radiopharmaceuticals increases, the nuclear medicine technologist’s exposure to radioactive decay from the current production process of radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals is expected to increase.  From an excerpt of the article in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, the nuclear pharmacy market is identified as one of the “four occupational groups identified as highly exposed”¹.  The same article goes on to say that in the cyclotron and radioisotope production facilities “the annual mean doses for these workers have increased in each of the last 5 years.”  The combination of increased demand and the current manual production processes will clearly add to this serious safety issue.  In addition, all healthcare providers are handling more and more radioactivity (net 16 million doses delivered annually, and increasing).

While workloads for the Nuclear Pharmacy has dramatically increased so has the demand for new therapeutic radioisotopes requiring radionuclide purity that far exceeds current levels.  The current production process, which in itself is an antiquated but an accepted systematic process, is plagued by human process errors and yields a level of purity that is not dose-to- dose consistent or free of impurities.  In the therapy arena, the requirement for a uniform therapeutic radioisotope is not only required, but the lack thereof increases unpredictable patient risk if impurities are present. Whenever the isotope is used as a therapeutic, the safety and efficacy of the pharmaceutical is directly proportional to the complete utilization of the specific radioisotope (conjugation) with the bio-localization compound (minimal impurities and undesirables), and the immediate delivery of the isotope, which maximizes its effective radiation treatment.  It’s not alarming to find the Food and Drug Administration is continually looking for ways to minimize potential side effects of these drug therapies.

NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes' patented technology addresses the need for minimal worker radiation exposure during the production of the radiopharmaceuticals (derivation of a pure radioisotope).  It is this ultrapure solution containing the radioactivity that is then conjugated (mixed) with proprietary molecules.  In addition, this latest technology from NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes is far superior to current techniques for separation purity, and because it uses computer automation, can generate very consistent solutions on a dose-by-dose preparation schedule.  NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes has at its disposal scientists and engineers that are known world wide for their expertise and have many years of experience in developing and introducing new medical instrumentation.

¹ "Occupational Radiation Exposure Examined", J. Nucl. Med. 2003, 44(2), 27N