Research - Nuclear Medicine Service

The Nuclear Medicine Department leads different research projects carried out through the August Pi Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS).

The research activity at IDIBAPS is carried out in the areas of biopathology and respiratory, cardiovascular and renal bioengineering and oncology and hematology. Specifically in the group of:

The main lines of research on which the Department's activity is focused are the following:

• Nuclear Cardiology.
• Oncological Nuclear Medicine.
• Melanoma: Imaging, Genetics and Immunology.
• Imaging biomarkers in dementia and neurodegenerative diseases.
• Imaging biomarkers in brain tumors.
• Imaging biomarkers in ENT tumors.
• Image study of drug-resistant epilepsy.
• Imaging biomarkers in the prostate.
• Imaging study of chronic kidney disease and renal tumors.
• Functional imaging in lymphoma, melanoma and myeloma.
• Study of imaging biomarkers in lung cancer.
• Imaging biomarkers in atrial arrhythmia.
• Functional study of hepatocarcinoma and endovascular therapy.
• Radio-guided tumor surgery using sentinel node detection.

The Department’s research activity is also carried out at the Biomedical Research Networking Centre in Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN). The Nuclear Medicine Department also participates in the Consolidated Research Group (2021 SGR 01332 and 2021 SGR 00523) through the Agency for the Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

Department professionals publish about 20 articles each year in high-impact journals.

The aim of the research of the Nuclear Medicine Department is as follows:

• Develop techniques to improve diagnosis, assessment of prognosis and assessment of response to treatment in cancer patients.
• Develop and apply new therapies in oncology.
• Implement new radiopharmaceuticals to improve the diagnostic accuracy of PET in infectious processes.
• Establish precise quantification tools with PET for monitoring systemic inflammatory processes.
• Expand support in the operating room through new indications for radioguided surgery in cancer.
• Develop reconstruction, processing and quantification systems in neurodegenerative diseases.

The aim of the research of the Nuclear Medicine Department is as follows:

• Expand support in the operating room through new indications for radioguided surgery in cancer.
• Develop reconstruction, processing and quantification systems in neurodegenerative diseases.
•  Develop non-invasive imaging techniques, and biophotonic and physical techniques for the diagnosis of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer.
• Study the genetic bases involved in melanoma susceptibility, photocarcinogenesis and melanoma prognosis.
• Develop treatment strategies in melanoma and skin cancer: specific molecular targets/immunological therapies and photoprotection.