Clinical acceptance of a molecular imaging agent: a long march with [99mTc]TRODAT

Kung, Hank F.; Kung, Mei-Ping; Wey, Shiaw-Pyng; Lin, Kun-Ju; Yen, Tzu-Chen

doi:10.1016/j.nucmedbio.2007.03.010

« Previous Next »Nuclear Medicine and Biology
Volume 34, Issue 7 , Pages 787-789, October 2007

Clinical acceptance of a molecular imaging agent: a long march with [^99mTc]TRODAT

Hank F. Kung
- Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Corresponding author. Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Tel.: +1 215 662 3096; fax: +1 215 349 5035.
Mei-Ping Kung
- Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Shiaw-Pyng Wey
- Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, Chang Gang University
Kun-Ju Lin
- Molecular Imaging Center, Chang Gang Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan
Tzu-Chen Yen
- Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, Chang Gang University
- Molecular Imaging Center, Chang Gang Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan

Received 23 January 2007; accepted 19 March 2007. published online 11 May 2007.

Abstract

In the past 10 years, significant progress has been made in using a technetium-99m dopamine transporter imaging agent, [^99mTc]TRODAT, for routine clinical studies. Developing a molecular imaging agent from bench to the bedside is more than a simple scientific venture. Currently, Taiwan is the only place where [^99mTc]TRODAT is approved for routine clinical use in the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. The trials and tribulations of developing [^99mTc]TRODAT for routine clinical use in Taiwan provide an interesting case study in how to (critics may say, how not to) develop a molecular imaging agent.