RT Journal Article ID 6f25614f56ff4da6 A1 Jain, Sanyog A1 Dani, Prateek A1 Sharma, Rakesh Kumar T1 Pharmacoscintigraphy: A Blazing Trail for the Evaluation of New Drugs and Delivery Systems JF Critical Reviews™ in Therapeutic Drug Carrier Systems JO CRT YR 2009 FD 2009-12-11 VO 26 IS 4 SP 373 OP 426 K1 gamma scintigraphy K1 diagnostic imaging K1 noninvasive imaging K1 site targeting K1 pharmacoscintigraphy K1 novel drug delivery systems AB The drug development process is becoming increasingly sophisticated; as a result, the need for rapid and accurate means of predicting the in vivo behavior of drug products continues to grow. Preclinical in vivo evaluations involve the sacrifice of many animals and hence raise ethical issues. Therefore, noninvasive methods for assessing the in vivo behavior of drug products in animals have become an attractive alternative. Gamma scintigraphy is an established radiological-imaging technique that has been used in medical practice for the past several decades. Gamma scintigraphy is also used during clinical evaluations to map the formulation as it traverses the human body in real time. Combining this information with the pharmacokinetic data gives valuable information about the release and absorption mechanisms of drugs from their products. This technique also provides a handy tool for evaluating formulations at the preclinical and clinical stages of development for researchers who work in targeted drug delivery using novel drug carrier systems. The current review explores the use of pharmacoscintigraphy, a science that integrates gamma scintigraphy and conventional pharmacokinetics in the process of drug development. PB Begell House LK https://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/3667c4ae6e8fd136,7b9ff1f536d6a3b9,6f25614f56ff4da6.html