Canadian Light Source scientists have developed a way to produce medical isotopes without the use of a nuclear reactor.
The Saskatoon-based facility announced Friday they recently shipped isotopes made by powerful X-rays to Winnipeg for clinical trials.
“To be part of a project that will meet the health needs of so many Canadians, that is the most gratifying element,” said Canadian Light Source CEO Rob Lamb in a media release.
Medical isotopes are used in medical imaging to diagnose cancer and heart disease. According to Health Canada, energy emitted by the isotope is detected by a special camera during a scan.
The Medical Isotope Project facility in Saskatoon is the first of its kind in the world, light source officials said. A particle accelerator hits molybdenum-100 metals — which resemble dimes — with high-energy X-rays. The rays knock a neutron from the nuclei and convert the molybdenum-100 to molybdenum-99, which then decays into a medically useful isotope — technetium-99m. Leftover metals are recovered and recycled. A nuclear reactor is not needed and no nuclear waste is created.
The isotope is used in about 5,000 medical scans each day in Canada.
“We’re very confident that this technology will produce sufficient molybdenum-99 to be used in patients,” said Kennedy Mangera of Prairie Isotope Production Enterprise, which will be in charge of the Winnipeg clinical trials.
Ontario’s Chalk River nuclear reactor produces a bulk of the world’s medical isotopes, but the aging reactor is scheduled to shut down in 2016.
Two or three accelerator systems similar to the Medical Isotope Project could produce enough medical isotopes to supply all of Canada, according to light source officials. The project could prevent a potential isotope shortage when Chalk River stops production.
The Saskatoon Health Region said, because medical isotopes do not last long, they receive shipments every day from Ontario. Officials said, if isotopes are produced locally, the health region’s supply chain would be a lot more secure.
“In terms of travel and transport, we’re talking about travelling across campus instead of travelling across the country,” said Shane Timm, the region’s manager of nuclear medicine and PET/CT services.
The next step for the project is to receive Health Canada approval before moving on to supply isotopes to healthcare facilities across Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Northwest Ontario.
Light source officials said they expect approval by 2016.
The project is funded by Natural Resources Canada's Isotope Technology Acceleration Program, the Government of Saskatchewan and the non-profit Prairie Isotope Production Enterprise.
