Entry requirements

A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university in life sciences (e.g. physics, radiophysics, chemistry or biology), medicine, pharmacy, nursing, or other relevant university education. Radiation Protection and Medical Effects, 6 credits, and Nuclide Production and Radiochemistry, 9 credits.

Learning outcomes

The course applies knowledge from the courses Radiation Protection and Medical Effects, 4 p (6 ECTS credits) and Nuclide Production and Radiochemistry, 6 p (9 ECTS credits). The course is for half a year before the final project work 20 p (30 ECTS credits). The overall goal is to give knowledge on methods used for radiolabelling of biologically interesting molecules of low and high molecular weight aimed for in vivo (PET, SPECT) clinical and experimental use and also for in vitro use. After passed course it is expected that the student can

• produce radionuclides using cyclotrons
• apply methods for the synthesis of 11C- and 18F- labelled compounds
• handle chelating chemistry and synthesis using radiohalogens
• relevant methods for purification of radiopharmaceuticals
• analytical techniques in radiochemistry and quality control
• methods for synthesis of compounds with long-lived radionuclides such as 14-C and 3-H
• organic chemistry with selected topics needed for labelling methods and strategy
• understand the essential methods when labelling macromolecules
• methods for production and recovery of radionuclides for PET and SPECT
• several applications with radionuclides suitable for autoradiography and other in vitro assays
• synthesis technology and automation: commercial kit-methods and custom-made research instrumentation
• understand the relationship between molecular structure and tracer properties, including the use of computational methods
• radioanalytical and other analytical methods for validation of radionuclide purity, radiochemical purity, chemical purity and structure certification
• quality control and biological and medical evaluation in relation to the quality control after radiolabelling.

Content

• Labelling methods; history and future perspectives.
• Fundamental organic chemistry with selected topics needed for the understanding of labelling methods and strategy. Methods for the labelling of low and high molecular weight compounds are included.
• Production and recovery of radionuclides for PET, SPECT and examples of clinical diagnostic applications.
• Radionuclides for preclinical applications and radionuclides suitable for autoradiography and other in vitro assays.
• Synthesis technology and automation: commercial kit-methods and custom-made research instrumentation.
• Relationship between molecular structure and tracer properties, including the use of computational methods.
• Synthesis methods for long-lived radionuclides such as 14-C and 3-H.
• Radioanalytical and other analytical methods for validation of radionuclide purity, radiochemical purity, chemical purity and structure certification
• Quality control and biological and medical evaluation after radiolabelling.

Part I: General lectures

Part II: Peptides and Macromolecules

Part III: Low Molecular Weight Compounds

Instruction

2-6 hours lectures per day and laboratory work. Course-specific web site information and education material. Study visits and seminars. Student seminars on selected literature.

Assessment

At each part of the course there will be examination and written reports. Certificates will be given after each part. At the end of the completed course a written examination will take place to get a passing grade. For passing grade the laboratory work and the seminars is required. The grades "Pass" or "Fail" are given.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.

Transitional provisions

Students that have passed all courses within Medical Nuclide Techniques, 40 p ("magisterprogram" given 2004-2006) fulfil the requirements for this course.