Sherbrooke research centre produces isotopes using cyclotron

The Centre de recherche at the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CRCHUS) has achieved a significant breakthrough in the production of technetium (Tc-99m) used for medical isotope procedures. The centre's clinical study produced Tc-99m using a cyclotron rather than a nuclear reactor and injected 11 patients with the compound, allowing for accurate diagnosis of thyroid disorders.

The project was funded with $2.9 million from the Isotope Technology Accelerator Program administered by Natural Resources Canada, $600,000 from the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec (MSSS), $400,000 from the Fondation du CHUS, and $70,000 from the MITNEC (Medical Imaging Trial Network of Canada) consortium funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Also participating in the project are a research team from the Univ of Alberta and Advanced Cyclotron Systems Inc, a Richmond BC-based manufacturer of cyclotrons.

Researchers hope to replicate the success of the project with more complex nuclear medicine tests for assessing myocardial contractility and ventilation studies investigating pulmonary embolism.

The development is significant as the five nuclear reactors worldwide responsible for 80% of the world's supply of Tc-99m are more than 50 years old and will eventually be decommissioned. The federal government announced earlier this month that the National Research Universal Reactor (NRU) at Chalk River ON — built in 1957 and currently the world's largest supplier of Tc-99m — will be decommissioned by 2018 (R$, February 10/15).

The CRCHUS researchers had access to two cyclotrons with higher outputs and the project's backers hope the technology will be adopted by other research and university centres, increasing the autonomy of the healthcare system.

In related news, the CycloMed99 team led by TRIUMF has won the NSERC Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering. It was awarded for technology allowing Tc-99m to be produced using medical cyclotrons already installed and operational in major hospitals across Canada (see page 3).

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