Nuclear medicine procedures involving SPECT, SPECT/CT and planar imaging have dropped an average 2.5 percent per year from 2008 to 2012 to more than 14.8 million imaging studies, down from 16 million exams, according to an October 2013 market report by IMV.

The PET amyloid imaging agent F-18 Florbetaben may soon be available in South Korea as a result of a licensing agreement and partnership between producer Piramal Imaging and Ci-Co Healthcare, according to a Nov. 21 announcement from Piramal.

Northstar Medical Technologies was awarded $21.8 million in part by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. The grant was provided in an effort to develop a sustainable American supply of molybdenum-99 using alternative medical isotope production methods that do not require the use of high-enriched uranium, according to a Nov. 21 announcement.

SHINE Medical Technologies, a Wisconsin-based producer of medical isotope technologies, announced Dec. 3 that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Committee (NRC) has accepted the second and final portion of their application for a construction permit to build an accelerator plant for medical isotopes including molybdenum-99, which would in turn create a U.S. supply of technetium-99.

A Large-scale DNA analysis has led to the discovery of 11 new genes involved in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study published Oct. 27 in Nature Genetics.

Using a molecular sensor that finds the protein fibrinogen in the blood-brain barrier, researchers are able to detect early signs of multiple sclerosis (MS) before any outward symptoms of disease. This could lead to better therapies provided earlier in the disease process, according to a study published Nov. 29 in the Annals of Neurology.

Targeting the loss of blood-brain barrier cells now implicated in the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) may lead to a new diagnostic paradigm and a way forward for drug therapies that improve neurovascular health, according to a study published Dec. 13 in Nature Communications.

An investigative SPECT/CT imaging agent targets tumor cells via a vitamin B12 carrier, according to research published online Dec. 12 by the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.