radiopharmaceuticaln.adj.
/ˌreɪdɪəʊˌfɑːməˈs(j)uːtᵻkl/, U.S. /ˌreɪdioʊˌfɑrməˈsudək(ə)l/ A. n.
A radioactive compound used in the diagnosis or treatment of disease or in biomedical research.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > [noun] > a medicine or medicament > radioactive compound
radiopharmaceutical1957
radiotherapeutic1993
1957 Jrnl. Org. Chem. 22 1695/1 Obtained from Abbott Laboratories, Division of Radio-Pharmaceuticals.
1966 Jrnl. Nucl. Med. 7 824 To be useful in clinical studies, a radiopharmaceutical must be sterile, non-pyrogenic and pharmacologically safe.
1986 Jrnl. Royal Coll. Physicians 20 111/2 Nuclear medicine uses as its essential ‘tool’ pharmaceuticals labelled with radioactive atoms, and the development of these ‘radio-pharmaceuticals’ is a major activity both of the pharmaceutical industry and of research organisations.
1998 Jrnl. Nucl. Med. 39 320 Both radiopharmaceuticals performed well in the nine patients found to have adenoma.
B. adj.
Designating such a compound; relating to, concerned with, or employing such compounds.
ΚΠ
1959 Charleston (W. Va.) Gaz. 19 Feb. 20/3 A booklet has been issued by Abbott Laboratories here, operator of the only radio-pharmaceutical laboratory at Oak Ridge, Tenn.
1966 G. V. LeRoy in G. A. Andrews et al. Radioactive Pharmaceuticals xxxvii. 669 There is a continuing disagreement about the appropriate dose of almost all the radiopharmaceutical agents currently in use.
1975 Amer. Surg. 41 289 A radiopharmaceutical imaging technique with 99m-technetium macroaggregated albumin was used to evaluate the deep venous system.
1997 Amer. Jrnl. Surg. 174 536 We determined whether combining the dye with a radiopharmaceutical agent would enhance our rate of sentinel node detection.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1957