Project title: Development of the automated system for small scale production of Iodine-131 capsules for personalized therapy of thyroid disease
Project manager: Dr. Sanja Vranješ-Đurić, Principal research fellow
Team members: Aleksandar Vukadinović, Predrag Božović
Project budget: 20.000 EUR
Iodine-131 is the ideal radioisotope for treatment of thyroid diseases. It is used in the form of sodium iodide (131I) capsules for the treatment of thyroid carcinoma and hyperthyroidism. For effective treatment, the accurate Iodine-131 radioactivity must be administered to each individual patient. Therefore, hospitals and institutes worldwide that want customized capsules, produce them in their own radiopharmacy departments by manually dispensing the Iodine-131 solution into the capsules. Our goal is to develop an automated system that can be used for the preparation of customized Iodine-131 capsules suited for the needs of every individual patient. The system that is the subject of our concept is affordable, easy to use, computer controlled, suitable for the production of the small batches of customized capsules and provides the excellent radiation protection of the production staff. The proof of concept goals will be achieved through the four phases: from acquisition of all the parts needed, assembly, testing and validating all the components of the system to the analysis of the prior art and the preliminary scope of the future patent application.