[...]... INTRODUCTION Strategy to Address the Study Charge, 14 Report Roadmap, 15 10 2 NUCLEAR MEDICINE Significant Discoveries, 22 Frontiers in Nuclear Medicine, 23 Complexities of Nuclear Medicine Practice and Research, 38 Conclusion, 42 17 3 NUCLEAR MEDICINE IMAGING IN DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT Background, 43 Current State of Nuclear Medicine Imaging and Emerging Priorities, 44 Impediments to Progress and Current... radiopharmaceuticals (Sidebar 2.3) may be used to deposit lethal radiation at tumor sites Nuclear medicine has been developed over the past 50 years through a   Stage refers to a method of classifying patients by how far a disease has progressed 17 18 ADVANCING NUCLEAR MEDICINE THROUGH INNOVATION SIDEBAR 2.1  Radionuclides Used in Nuclear Medicine Radionuclides (also called radioisotopes) are chemical elements that... radiochemists—was expanded to include examination of shortages of highly trained nuclear medicine scientists 14 ADVANCING NUCLEAR MEDICINE THROUGH INNOVATION 25,000 Thousands ($) 20,000 15,000 NCI (FY'06) NIBIB (FY'06) 10,000 5,000 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Research Area FIGURE 1.3  Breakdown of funding expended by NCI and NIBIB on nuclear medicine research by research area: 1 = Basic instrumentation development, 2... (Chapter 5); radiopharmaceutical development (Chapter 6); computational and instrument development (Chapter 7); and 16 ADVANCING NUCLEAR MEDICINE THROUGH INNOVATION • training of nuclear medicine scientists and clinical investigators (Chapter 8) Chapter 2 provides an overview of nuclear medicine as a discipline, which may be helpful to non-experts It briefly summarizes important discoveries, challenges,... patients; (5) the use of nuclear medicine imaging as a tool in the discovery and development of new drugs; and (6) the translation of research from bench to bedside, including investment in training of clinician scientists in nuclear medicine techniques Specific research opportunities are discussed in Chapters 3, 4, 6, and 7 of the report Achieving  ADVANCING NUCLEAR MEDICINE THROUGH INNOVATION these research... in medical specialties from cardiology to oncology to neurology and psychiatry and is a $1.7 billion industry The Society of Nuclear Medicine estimates that 20 million nuclear NUCLEAR MEDICINE SIDEBAR 2.2  Nuclear Medicine Imaging Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine imaging technique that exploits the unique decay physics of positron-emitting radionuclides (Sidebar 2.9) and produces... critical for advancing nuclear medicine Historically, federally funded research and development has driven the development of instrumentation and radiotracers that form the backbone of nuclear medicine practice worldwide These discoveries have largely been due to the proximity of scientific disciplines in nuclear science and technology Capitalizing on this multi-disciplinary mix has served nuclear medicine. .. to be used in biology and medicine, particularly in imaging sciences, photo-optics and biosensors The program directly supported nuclear medicine research through radiopharmaceutical and instrument development and the development of 12 ADVANCING NUCLEAR MEDICINE THROUGH INNOVATION radionuclides for diagnosis and targeted therapy (Chapter 4). It also supported dedicated cyclotrons for the production... that is called “personalized medicine. ” The growth of personalized medicine will be aided by research that provides a better understanding of normal and pathological processes; greater knowledge of the mechanisms   Proteomics is the study of the structure and function of proteins, including the way they interact with each other in cells   ADVANCING NUCLEAR MEDICINE THROUGH INNOVATION by which individual... take into account the unique properties of these agents); (2) lack of specific guidelines  ADVANCING NUCLEAR MEDICINE THROUGH INNOVATION from the FDA for good manufacturing practice for PET radiodiagnostics and other radiopharmaceuticals; and (3) lack of a consensus for standardized image acquisition in nuclear medicine imaging procedures and harmonization of protocols appropriate for multi-institutional . 14 Report Roadmap, 15 2 NUCLEAR MEDICINE 17 Significant Discoveries, 22 Frontiers in Nuclear Medicine, 23 Complexities of Nuclear Medicine Practice and Research,. including the way they interact with each other in cells. 2 ADVANCING NUCLEAR MEDICINE THROUGH INNOVATION by which individual diseases arise; superior identification