Radiopharmaceuticals

SAHMRI's research into Radiopharmaceuticals
Radiopharmaceuticals

Radiopharmaceuticals are drugs that contain radioactive isotopes which emit energy. Diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals are used for imaging to locate or define disease, or to monitor a person’s response to treatment. Therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals seek out disease cells to deliver localised radiation designed to kill the cells.

SAHMRI’s Molecular Imaging and Therapeutic Research Unit is home to South Australia’s only cyclotron. The cyclotron is a particle accelerator that produces radiopharmaceuticals every day of the year for diagnostic and therapeutic use at the adjacent Royal Adelaide Hospital and at other treatment centres around Australia.