In order to explain to as many people as possible the challenges of using radioactivity in health, particularly in nuclear medicine, and the pluridisciplinary aspect of this medical specialty, the Labex IRON in partnership with the University of Nantes has built a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) “At the heart of medical radioactivity”.
After a brief introduction to the physical bases of radioactivity and the production of radioactive isotopes of interest, this MOOC presents in different stages how radioactivity is exploited in a medical environment, from the design of a radiopharmaceutical drug to its use in the patient.
Coordinated by Caroline Bodet-Milin and Mickaël Bourgeois and led by Marie-Hélène Gaugler and the Digital Production and Innovation Department (SPIN) of the University of Nantes, this MOOC includes 24 episodes divided into 6 chapters. It was opened on the FUN platform in 2019.
Introduction
- History of Nuclear Medicine (video currently unavailable)
- Medical use of ionizing radiation
What is radioactivity?
- Journey to the heart of matter (video currently unavailable)
- The origins of radioactivity
- The different types of radioactivity
- Concepts in radiobiology
Production of radioactive isotopes
- Cyclotron production: the example of fluorine-18
- Cyclotron production: the example of astatine-211
- The neutron reactor: example of iodine-131 production (video currently unavailable)
- Generator production: example of metastable technetium-99
Radiopharmaceuticals: definition and mode of action
- What is a radiopharmaceutical?
- How radiopharmaceutical work: the concept of molecular targeting
- Radiopharmaceuticals for diagnostic applications
- Radiopharmaceuticals for therapeutic applications
Medical applications
- Patient pathway – Diagnostic tests in conventional nuclear medicine: an example of bone and myocardial scintigraphy
- Patient pathway – Diagnostic tests using positron emission tomography: example of FDG PET
- Patient pathway – Therapeutic applications: an example of iodine-131 radiotherapy
- Contribution of nuclear medicine to personalized medicine
- Contribution of nuclear medicine in the management of breast cancer
- Use of ionizing radiation in external radiotherapy
Radioprotection
- Radiation protection: regulatory framework and theoretical data
- Practical radiation protection
- Perception of radioactivity, theoretical data
- The hospitalization experience in a shielded room of patients with thyroid cancer treated with iodine-131
The teaching team is made up of specialists in nuclear medicine, biology, nuclear physics, radiochemistry and radiopharmacy, but also management sciences and psychology, coming from:
