Nueclear Healthcare installs Medical Cyclotron facility
26th February, 2014, Mumbai:
Ihyrocare, a leading company in medical diagnosis, which had diversified into in-vivo diagnosis last year with the introduction of its first PET CT centre under the brand 'Nueclear', has installed its first Medical Cyclotron facility at Nueclear Healthcare Centre in Navi Mumbai on 26th February 2014. This new facility will help in the production of diagnostic agents like Radiopharmaceuticals, thereby aiding host of PET CT centers and hospitals in the nearby region. The new self shielded Medical Cyclotron is manufactured by General Electric (Sweden).
Speaking on the occasion, Dr.Velumani, CMD of Thyrocare, said, "With the installation of Medical Cyclotron facility, we are now capable of producing radioisotopes at our Nueclear Healthcare centre itself. This also means that we will be able to use PET CT for greater number of procedures which will greatly expand our research capability. It will also help us to effectively double our capacity to provide scanning services to our patients".
The Medical Cyclotron facility will help in producing radioactive isotope Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). FDG once injected in the patient’s body helps PET CT in detection of cancer 'hotspots' or areas where there are hidden cancer cells. The PET CT and Medical Cyclotron are extremely sophisticated equipment and have been approved by the country's atomic energy body - Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). In order to supply 18F-FDG to various hospitals and diagnostic centers after the production, 18F-FDG in synthesis module is transferred to an automated dispensing module where, based on the ordered amount of radioactivity it is dispensed into individual sterile vials. The final radiopharmaceutical product, is then packaged in specialized shielded transport containers and supplied to the PET-CT Centers to the near by regions. Presently, there are two rounds of production undertaken at the facility to meet the 18F-FDG needs within and outside Mumbai.
Dr. B. Rajashekharrao, Director-Operations, Nueclear Healthcare stated that the radioisotope 18F in the radiopharmaceutical form, has tremendous clinical applications in PET CT imaging of patients suspected and suffering from cancer, neurological, cardiological, inflammatory and infectious diseases. Out of all the radioisotopes, 18F is the most preferred one, since it has a relatively longer half-life of 110 minutes, thus making it feasible to supply to PET-CT Centers at a distant place from our Medical Cyclotron facility, this will help in better and quicker cancer diagnosis".
In future, Nueclear Healthcare plans to install three more Medical Cyclotrons at geographically strategic locations across India. Currently, the Medical Cyclotron in Noida/Delhi is being built exclusively for molecular imaging services and the site and layout is approved by AERB. The facility is under construction and is proposed to be operational by 2016. In Coimbatore the site is just approved by AERB. The long-term goal is to have 40 PET-CTs and 4 Medical Cyclotrons.