{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T01:32:39Z","timestamp":1793064759411,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":11,"publisher":"Georg Thieme Verlag KG","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nuklearmedizin"],"abstract":"Abstract<\/jats:title>\n Positron emission tomography radiopharmaceuticals have short physical\n half-lives, making transport time a key determinant of their clinical\n availability. This study evaluated the potential of unmanned aerial\n vehicle\u2013based transport to improve radiopharmaceutical distribution compared\n with conventional road transport.<\/jats:p>\n Ground- and unmanned aerial vehicle\u2013based transport scenarios were compared\n within standardized regulatory and radiopharmacy frameworks. Representative\n distribution routes were analysed, and radioactive decay was modelled using\n exponential decay kinetics. Activity preservation was evaluated for\n 18F, 68Ga, and 11C using representative\n distribution scenarios for 18F-FDG and 68Ga-PSMA.<\/jats:p>\n The modelling analysis predicted shorter and more predictable delivery times\n for unmanned aerial vehicle\u2013based transport than for conventional road\n transport. The reduced transport duration increased the residual activity\n available at the time of administration, with the greatest benefit predicted\n for short-lived radionuclides. In a representative scenario, reducing the\n transport time from approximately 110 to 70 minutes was associated with\n increased residual 18F activity from approximately 50 to 64%. A\n corresponding increase from approximately 33 to 49% was predicted for\n 68Ga, whereas 11C exhibited the greatest\n sensitivity to transport time.<\/jats:p>\n Unmanned aerial vehicle\u2013based transport could improve positron emission\n tomography radiopharmaceutical distribution by reducing decay losses,\n increasing operational flexibility, and enabling higher patient throughput\n per production batch. Clinical implementation remains limited by regulatory,\n technical, and environmental challenges. Experimental validation and\n real-world studies are needed to confirm feasibility.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1055\/a-2966-8652","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T22:51:01Z","timestamp":1792104661000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Potentials and Challenges of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle\u2013Based Transport\n for the Time-Critical Delivery of Positron Emission Tomography\n Radiopharmaceuticals in Nuclear Medicine"],"prefix":"10.1055","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-4197-1294","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Olga","family":"Varlamova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medizinische Universit\u00e4t Lausitz \u2013 Carl\n Thiem, BB, Germany","place":["Cottbus"],"department":["Department of Nuclear Medicine"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jan","family":"Bredow","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medizinische Universit\u00e4t Lausitz \u2013 Carl\n Thiem, BB, Germany","place":["Cottbus"],"department":["Department of Nuclear Medicine"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4966-0128","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Matthias","family":"Nattke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Brandenburg University of Technology\n Cottbus-Senftenberg, BB, Germany","place":["Cottbus"],"department":["Institute of Computer Science and Information and Media\n Technology"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Winfried","family":"Brenner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Charite \u2013 Universit\u00e4tsmedizin Berlin, BE, Germany","place":["Berlin"],"department":["Department of Nuclear Medicine"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katharina","family":"Frentzel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Klinikum Ernst von Bergmann gGmbH, BB, Germany","place":["Potsdam"],"department":["Department of Nuclear Medicine"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Starke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medizinische Universit\u00e4t Lausitz \u2013 Carl\n Thiem, BB, Germany","place":["Cottbus"],"department":["Department of Nuclear Medicine"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"194","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1007\/b136169","volume-title":"Positron emission tomography: Basic sciences","author":"D L Bailey","year":"2005"},{"key":"ref2","first-page":"144","article-title":"PET in oncology: basics and clinical applications","volume":"57","author":"H Jadvar","year":"2016","journal-title":"J Nucl Med"},{"key":"ref3","volume-title":"Physics in nuclear medicine","author":"S R Cherry","year":"2012"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1049","DOI":"10.1007\/s00259-010-1407-3","article-title":"Guidance on current good radiopharmacy practice (cGRPP) for the small-scale\n preparation of radiopharmaceuticals","volume":"37","author":"P Elsinga","year":"2010","journal-title":"Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3353","DOI":"10.1007\/s00259-022-05738-4","article-title":"EANM guideline on quality risk management for radiopharmaceuticals","volume":"49","author":"N Gillings","year":"2022","journal-title":"Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging"},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"411","DOI":"10.1002\/net.21818","article-title":"Optimization approaches for civil applications of unmanned aerial vehicles\n (UAVs) or aerial drones: a survey","volume":"72","author":"A Otto","year":"2018","journal-title":"Networks"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4293\/JSLS.2018.00018","article-title":"Surgical and medical applications of drones: a comprehensive review","volume":"22","author":"J C Rosser","year":"2018","journal-title":"JSLS"},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"725","DOI":"10.3390\/drones9110728","article-title":"Unmanned aircraft for emergency deliveries between hospitals in madrid:\n estimating time savings and predictability","volume":"9","author":"E Gani\u0107","year":"2025","journal-title":"Drones"},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1007\/s44250-025-00187-w","article-title":"Beyond numbers: a novel IoT and drone framework for enhancing healthcare\n logistics","volume":"4","author":"T S Lakhwani","year":"2025","journal-title":"Discov Health Syst"},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"202","DOI":"10.3390\/drones10030202","article-title":"Enhancing access to cancer diagnostics with drone delivery of PET isotopes: the\n significance of weather and clinical workflows","volume":"10","author":"K A Johannessen","year":"2026","journal-title":"Drones"},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"564","DOI":"10.1016\/S2214-109X(22)00048-1","article-title":"Effect of unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) delivery on blood product delivery\n time and wastage in Rwanda: a retrospective, cross-sectional study and time\n series analysis","volume":"10","author":"M Nisingizwe","journal-title":"Lancet Global Health"}],"container-title":["Nuklearmedizin - NuclearMedicine"],"original-title":[],"language":"de","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/www.thieme-connect.de\/products\/ejournals\/pdf\/10.1055\/a-2966-8652.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T00:41:13Z","timestamp":1793061673000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.thieme-connect.de\/DOI\/DOI?10.1055\/a-2966-8652"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]]},"references-count":11,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1055\/a-2966-8652","archive":["Portico","CLOCKSS"],"relation":{},"ISSN":["0029-5566","2567-6407"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0029-5566","type":"print"},{"value":"2567-6407","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]]}}}