The use of radiolabelled nanoparticles (NPs) is a promising nuclear medicine tool for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Thanks to the heterogeneity of their material (organic or inorganic) and their unique physical and chemical characteristics, they are highly versatile for their use in several medical applications. In particular, they have shown interesting results as radiolabelled probes for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. The high variability of NP types and the possibility to use several isotopes in the radiolabelling process implies different radiolabelling methods that have been applied over the previous years. In this review, we compare and summarize the different methods for NP radiolabelling with the most frequently used PET isotopes.
Keywords: PET/CT; nanoparticles; nanotechnology; nuclear medicine; radiolabelling.