Gamma scintigraphy: an evolving technology in pharmaceutical formulation development - Part 1

Gamma scintigraphy provides a noninvasive method to 'see' the in vivo fate of a pharmaceutical dosage form, The power of the technique is realized fully by correlating deposition and transit of the delivery system with resulting systemic drug levels. Since their inception 25 years ago, these methods have evolved into the preferred technology for evaluation of the in vivo behavior of drug delivery systems. In part one of a two part review, the authors describe general scintigraphic methods and provide illustrations that exemplify the use of gamma scintigraphy for the in vivo evaluation of oral formulations. Part 2 of this article will appear in the July issue of PSTT.