Sodium Iodinate(123I)

Since 2001, Nuclear and Energy Research Institute IPEN-CNEN has produced weekly ultrapure iodine-123, using a manual irradiation system, fully developed in IPEN. Iodine-123 radiopharmaceuticals have been produced and distributed to hospitals and clinics of nuclear medicine, where several diagnostic imaging procedures for thyroid, brain and cardiovascular functions are performed. Due to the short half-life and emission of low-energy photons, this radioisotope becomes suitable for diagnosis in children. In the present work, the technical and constructive aspects of a new fully automated irradiation system, dedicated to ¹²³I routine production, employing enriched xenon-124 gas as the target material is presented. This new system consists of a target, a water and helium cooling system, a cryogenic system, an electric power system, and a control and process monitoring unit, composed of supervisory software, connected to a programmable logic controller via personal computer. In this new concept, there is no need for human intervention during radioisotope production, reducing the possibility of eventual failures or incidents involving radioactive material. By using this new system, a specific yield of 2.70 mCi/μAh per irradiation was achieved in validation runs, and after three years of routine production of iodine-123, the system showed reliability and resilience.

The aim of this study was to answer the question whether our newly developed injectable biodegradable "self-setting" polymer-composite as a bone adhesive is a good "bone-glue" candidate to efficiently fix comminuted fractures of pig femoral bones used as an ex-vivo experimental model.

Mechanical properties of adhesive prepared from α-tricalcium phosphate (TCP) powder and thermogelling copolymer were optimized by selecting the appropriate composition with adhesion enhancers based on dopamine and sodium iodinate. Setting time and injectability were controlled by rheology. Ex-vivo experiments of fixed pig bones were provided in terms of either the three-point bending test of bending wedge type fractured pig femurs (with LCP) or the axial compression test of 45° oblique fractured femurs (without LCP) in physiological saline solution at 37 °C. Fractured bones treated with optimized adhesive before and after bending tests were imaged by X-ray microtomography (μCT).

Based on the rheological measurement, the adhesive modified with both dopamine and sodium iodinate exhibited optimal thixotropic properties required for injection via thin 22 G needle. This optimal adhesive composition showed an 8 min lag phase (processing time) followed by fast increase in storage modulus at 37 °C up to 1 GPa within 110 min. Self-setting of dopamine/iodinate modified adhesive was completed in 48 h exhibiting the maximum strength at compression of 7.98 MPa ± 1.39 MPa. Whereas unmodified adhesive failed in glue-to-bone adhesion, dopamine and dopamine/iodinate modified adhesive used for 45° oblique fracture fixation showed good and similar strength at compression (3.05 and 2.79 MPa, respectively). However, significantly higher elasticity of about 250% exhibited adhesive with iodinate enhancer. Moreover, mechanical properties of B2 fractures fixed with both LCP and dopamine/iodinate adhesive were approaching closely to the properties of original bone. Excellent adhesion between the adhesive and the bone fragments was proved by μCT.

The polymer-composite bone adhesive modified with dopamine/iodinate exhibited very good fixation ability of femoral artificial comminuted fractures in an experimental model.