Brain SPECT shows signs of growth

Article

Shipments of Spectamine were interrupted at a most inopportunetime. Just as clinical demand for single-photon emission computedtomography brain agents was beginning to pick up, supplier IMPhas been forced to seek financial and manufacturing partners

Shipments of Spectamine were interrupted at a most inopportunetime. Just as clinical demand for single-photon emission computedtomography brain agents was beginning to pick up, supplier IMPhas been forced to seek financial and manufacturing partners toresurrect Spectamine. Contract production of the agent was shutdown by Medi-Physics this year after IMP of Schaumburg, IL, couldn'tpay the bills (SCAN 6/17/92).

Iodine-labeled Spectamine is one of only two SPECT brain radiopharmaceuticalsapproved by the Food and Drug Administration. The other, technetium-taggedCeretec, is manufactured by Medi-Physics' parent Amersham. A secondtechnetium brain agent, Du Pont's Neurolite, will likely be thenext agent to hit the U.S. market.

Although neurological multidetector SPECT cameras have beenaround for seven or eight years, most SPECT imaging activity hasbeen on the cardiac side. Demand for brain SPECT cameras has beenincreasing of late, however, as clinical experience with the agentsgrows.

"The first three-head camera was shown in 1985. Now, in1992, people are actually buying the three-head. They are buyingit for the promise of neurology," said James L. Besett, generalmanager of Picker International's nuclear medicine division.

Developments of neurological therapies are also stimulatingthe brain SPECT market, said IMP president James F. Lamb. Therapeuticagents for stroke and Alzheimer's disease, for instance, are inclinical trials. The nuclear medicine market will benefit fromthe need to monitor and evaluate these therapies, he said.

Other forces driving the market are advances in psychiatry,where drugs are already approved, and increased use of brain SPECTin trauma applications, Lamb said.

Recent Videos
What New Research Reveals About Computed Tomography and Radiation-Induced Cancer Risk
What New Interventional Radiology Research Reveals About Treatment for Breast Cancer Liver Metastases
New Mammography Studies Assess Image-Based AI Risk Models and Breast Arterial Calcification Detection
Can Deep Learning Provide a CT-Less Alternative for Attenuation Compensation with SPECT MPI?
Employing AI in Detecting Subdural Hematomas on Head CTs: An Interview with Jeremy Heit, MD, PhD
Pertinent Insights into the Imaging of Patients with Marfan Syndrome
What New Brain MRI Research Reveals About Cannabis Use and Working Memory Tasks
Current and Emerging Legislative Priorities for Radiology in 2025
How Will the New FDA Guidance Affect AI Software in Radiology?: An Interview with Nina Kottler, MD, Part 2
A Closer Look at the New Appropriate Use Criteria for Brain PET: An Interview with Phillip Kuo, MD, Part 2
Related Content
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.