Nano‐sized Carrier Systems as New Materials for Nuclear Medicine

Abstract

Materials with nano-sized architecture currenly attract a lot of attention for various applications because they possess many unique properties. Several of the currently most studied applications of nanotechnology are in medicine, especially in the delivery of chemical drugs, and also in nuclear medicine, which is the focus of this review. The main areas of interest for nano-sized systems exploitable in nuclear medicine are imaging of reticuloendothelial system by single photon emission tomography, radiosynovectomy with beta-emitter-labeled particles, and diagnostic or therapeutic cancer applications exploiting passive targeting of radionuclides to solid tumors by enhanced permeation and retention (EPR) effect, or by active targeting approaches.