Application of Technetium and Rhenium in Nuclear Medicine

Technetium and Rhenium are the two lower elements in the manganese triad. Whereas rhenium is known as an important part of high resistance alloys, technetium is mostly known as a cumbersome product of nuclear fission. It is less known that its metastable isotope 99mTc is of utmost importance in nuclear medicine diagnosis. The technical application of elemental rhenium is currently complemented by investigations of its isotope 188Re, which could play a central role in the future for internal, targeted radiotherapy. This article will briefly describe the basic principles behind diagnostic methods with radionuclides for molecular imaging, review the 99mTc-based radiopharmaceuticals currently in clinical routine and focus on the chemical challenges and current developments towards improved, radiolabeled compounds for diagnosis and therapy in nuclear medicine.