Alberta researchers suggest they can supply demand for medical isotopes

University of Alberta scientists believe they’ve taken an important step towards supplying Alberta with medical isotopes.

Scientists at the university’s medical isotope and cyclotron facility said they discovered a way to produce enough isotopes for up to 1,000 diagnostic procedures in a day during their research.

“We were asked to show that we could make it in the quantities that are required to supply a province and we’ve done it. We are the only people who have done that,” U of A oncology professor Sandy McEwan said.

A medical isotope is considered to be a safe radioactive substance used to diagnose illness.

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The research was conducted after the Chalk River nuclear reactor closed last year, which was one of the major producers of technetium-99m, the major medical isotope.

Technetium-99m is used in about two million procedures a year in Canada and 20 million in the United States to help diagnose life-threatening diseases such as cancer.

“Unlike other non-reactor-based methods of producing technetium-99m, the product from the cyclotron is functionally identical to that produced from a reactor. No new equipment or expertise is necessary at the nuclear medicine department,” medical isotope and cyclotron facility researcher Jan Andersson said.

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Researchers said the university’s method could reduce the chances of unplanned disruptions compared to reactors which have unexpectedly gone out of service in recent years, causing worldwide shortages and disruptions in patient care.

“One advantage with cyclotron-produced technetium is that the cyclotron is an electrical machine. We don’t produce radioactive waste and it’s very safe,” facility manager John Wilson said.

“When the electricity stops, the cyclotron stops and there is no hazard to the public. There are none of the issues you have with a reactor in terms of public perception, long-term waste and the huge initial cost of construction.”

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MacEwan said using a cyclotron to produce technetium and other radiopharmaceuticals also provides new opportunities as technological advances lessen the need for technetium in the future.

“It’s my belief that over the next 10 years, technetium imaging will begin to disappear. The technology is 50 years old.”