The invention relates to a non-invasive imaging method of bacteria. One embodiment comprises labeling the bacteria with a radioisotope, then delivering it to the gut of a human or animal. Another embodiment is to label bacteriophages, then administer them to a human or animal, so that they infect (and thus co-localize with) bacteria already resident in the human or animal. The bacteriophage can then be imaged, showing the location of the resident bacteria of interest. In another embodiment, the invention is related more generally to the labelling of bacteria or bacteriophages with a radio-metal or radioisotope to render the labeled gut bacteria and the bacteria in the body visible to nuclear medicine PET and SPECT imaging guided by functional/structural MRI and/or CT imaging. In another embodiment, the invention is related more generally to the labelling of bacteria or bacteriophages (both or just one) with a radio-metal or radioisotope to render the gut bacteria and the bacteria in the body visible to nuclear medicine PET and SPECT imaging guided by functional/structural MRI and/or CT imaging or visible by MRI alone or in combination with either PET or SPECT.

Multi-modal imaging capsule for image-guided proton beam therapy, consisting of a biocompatible polymer layer, .sup.18O-enriched water, and a contrast agent. The biocompatible capsule may be inserted near or inside a tumor under the guidance of X-ray, magnetic resonance, or ultrasonography imaging. Upon proton beam irradiation, the capsule emits positrons, allowing the tumor to be imaged and tracked by a PET detector.

A biocompatible curable composition and a method of detecting a border of a tumor, a tissue of interest, or both including injecting the biocompatible curable composition and contacting the border of a tumor or a tissue, the biocompatible curable composition crosslinks to form a three-dimensional cured nanocomposite, and imaging the three-dimensional (3D) cured nanocomposite, and imaging the 3D cured nanocomposite by at least one of MRI, CT, ultrasound, and X-ray, to detect the border of the tumor or the tissue of interest or track tumor motion during radiotherapy treatment. The biocompatible curable composition comprising an organic polymer having a hydrolysable functional group, a metallic nanoparticle, and a polar or a non-polar solvent. A brachytherapy strand consisting of a biocompatible curable composition and a radio-isotope seed. The biocompatible curable composition is shaped into an elongated cylinder and forms a 3D cured nanocomposite with a radio-isotope seed embedded.

This invention relates to strontium-phosphate microparticles that incorporate radioisotopes for radiation therapy and imaging.

A method for making a radiopharmaceutical cold kit without lyophilization, comprising (1) providing a labeling ligand, a reducing agent, and a bulking agent, and at least one of an antioxidant and an exchange ligand, wherein each of said labeling ligand, reducing agent, bulking agent, antioxidant and exchange ligand is provided in a dry form; and (2) combining and mixing the labeling ligand, the reducing agent, the bulking agent, and at least one of the antioxidant and the exchange ligand to produce a dry powder mixture, wherein the wherein the dry powder mixture is produced without the use of a lyophilization step. The radiopharmaceutical cold kit comprising the dry powder mixture may be stored, or combined with a radionuclide such as Technetium-99m (.sup.99mTc).

The invention provides a method for producing a solution containing .sup.211At.sup.− (astatide ion) at a high radiochemical purity by using .sup.211At obtained by a nuclear reaction as a starting material, including a step of adding a reducing agent to a solution containing an impurity derived from .sup.211At. The invention also provides a solution containing .sup.211At.sup.− (astatide ion) at a radiochemical purity of not less than 30%.

Provided are radiopaque compositions comprising one or more of yttrium (Y), strontium (Sr), gallium (Ga), and silicon, or oxides and salts thereof. The composition can comprise a combination of Y.sub.2O.sub.3, SrCO.sub.3, Ga.sub.2O.sub.3, and SiO.sub.2, and optionally MnO.sub.2, and TiO.sub.2. Other compositions comprise SrCO.sub.3, Ga.sub.2O.sub.3, TiO.sub.2, MnO.sub.2, and SiO.sub.2. The composition can be a particulate material. The compositions are useful for radioembolization to treat tumors.

Various oil-in-water (O/W) nanoemulsions containing an oil phase or oil core, preferably selected from vitamin E or oleic acid, stabilized by a sphingolipid of the sphingomyelin type, and optionally other lipids such as phospholipids, cholesterol, octadecylamine, DOTAP (N-[1-(2,3-Dioleoyloxy) propyl]-N, N, N-trimethylammonium methyl-sulfate), and PEGylated derivatives (derivatives with polyethylene glycol), for use as a nanotech vehicle, for example for the management of cancer and metastatic disease. Said nanoemulsions can be functionalized with ligands capable of interacting or binding to receptors expressed on the cell membrane of tumor cells, and in particular capable of interacting or binding to receptors expressed on the membrane of primary and/or disseminated or metastatic tumor cells. Also, antitumor drugs or therapeutic biomolecules can be encapsulated in said nanoemulsions and, finally, contrast agents can be incorporated for their use in the in vivo diagnosis in said nanoemulsions.

Systemic administration of intact, bacterially derived minicells results in rapid accumulation of the minicells in the microenvironment of a brain tumor, in therapeutically significant concentrations, without requiring endothelial endocytosis/transcytosis across the blood brain barrier or any other mechanism by which, pursuant to conventional approaches, nanoparticles have entered into that microenvironment. Accordingly, a wide variety of brain tumors, both primary and metastatic, can be treated by administering systemically a therapeutically effective amount of a composition comprised of a plurality of such minicells, each minicell being a vehicle for an active agent against the tumor, such as a radionuclide, a functional nucleic acid or a plasmid encoding one, or a chemotherapeutic agent.

A device and method for radioembolization in the treatment of cancer cells in the body. In preferred embodiments, a radiomicrosphere is formed from a resin where an alpha emitting isotope is used for tumoricidal purposes. As the alpha emitter decays, daughters of the alpha decay are captured by the resin. In accordance with the preferred embodiments, the resin is polyfunctional where the resin has at least three different types of functional groups for cation binding. In preferred embodiments, the three functional groups bonded to the resin include a carboxylic acid group, a diphosphonic acid group, and a sulfonic acid group. In further embodiments, the device comprises at least two isotopes; wherein a first isotope is for therapeutic purposes and a second isotope is for dosimetric purposes. The second isotope is a positron emitter for PET based dosimetry. In preferred embodiments, a post-treatment radiation absorbed dose is determined using the present invention, allowing both treatment and treatment efficacy to be provided to a cancer patient.