November 15, 2010 — A new exclusive worldwide license has been executed for patented technology for a proprietary brachytherapy seed with a fast-dissolving matrix for optimized delivery of radionuclides to cancer tissue.
The resorbable seed, from Advanced Medical Isotope Corp., provides controlled delivery of insoluble yttrium-90 microspheres. The new seed is a joint invention by radiochemists and medical physicists at Battelle in Richland, Wash., and pharmaceutical chemists at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. AMIC is testing and conducting research to develop the new brachytherapy seed. It planned to file premarket notification (510k) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in October.
Yttrium-90 is a high-energy beta-emitting medical isotope with good potential for treating highly localized cancer, AMIC says. The company anticipates the use of these seeds for prostate cancer as well as for many of the more radiation-resistant cancers, such as brain tumors, head and neck tumors and liver cancer. The resorbable seeds resemble conventional metal brachytherapy seeds and may be placed by direct injection using standard needles, grids and imaging systems. However, AMIC expects that the technology should enable seed manufacturing at lower cost relative to conventional welded-metal seeds.
Unlike current seeds, yttrium-90 decays with a shorter physical half-life (2.7 days) with negligible radiation outside the patient. The shorter half-life also suggests a potentially higher biological effective dose (BED) value for cancer cell destruction.
The insoluble form of the yttrium-90 microspheres effectively confines the radioactivity to the injection site and limits potential dissolution into blood.
For more information: www.isotopeworld.com
May 06, 2026 
