Technetium agents based on the technetium-99m (Tc-99m) radioisotope are frequently used agents in medical imaging. A radiopharmaceutical labeled with Tc-99m constitutes a co-ordination complex in which ligands bond to a central atom of Tc-99m by co-ordinate covalent bonds 4 .
The radioactive technetium radiotracer can be chelated to a number of different compounds to create specific radiopharmaceuticals and optimize the functional imaging of various structures:
-
thyroid imaging
Meckel scan
testicular scintigraphy
parathyroid subtraction study
gastric emptying, intestinal and rectal functional studies
-
splenic and hepatic imaging
taken up by the spleen, Kupffer cells in the liver and a small proportion by bone marrow
bone marrow and soft tissue infection scintigraphy
lymphatic scintigraphy, e.g. sentinel node lymphoscintigraphy
technetium-99m MDP or HDP: bone scintigraphy
technetium-99m MAA: lung perfusion imaging
technetium-99m teboroxime: cardiac imaging
-
technetium-99m mebrofenin:
hepatobilliary scintigraphy
liver function analysis
-
cardiac imaging
parathyroid imaging
technetium-99m HIDA : hepatobiliary scintigraphy
technetium-99m ECD: CNS imaging
technetium-99m HMPAO: cerebral perfusion imaging
technetium-99m HMPAO labeled WBC: infection scintigraphy
technetium-99m labeled monoclonal antibody fragments: infection scintigraphy, approved for osteomyelitis
-
assessment of occult gastrointestinal hemorrhage
assessment of vascular lesions, e.g. hepatic hemangioma
assessment of cardiac function, first pass or equilibrium
technetium-99m labeled heat-denatured RBC: specific splenic assessment, gold standard in splenosis
technetium-99m MAG3: renal imaging
technetium-99m DMSA: renal cortical imaging
-
glomerular renal imaging
glomerular filtration rate
-
technetium-99m DTPA (aerosol):
lung ventilation imaging
bronchial clearance
-
Lung ventilation imaging
technetium-99m GHA: oncological imaging (e.g. low-grade glioma, lung)