The Cyclotron Facility, opened in 2009 in London, Ontario, offers the most advanced equipment housed in a 6000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility. A cyclotron is a type of compact particle accelerator used to produce radioactive isotopes called positron emitters. Stable, non-radioactive isotopes are put into the cyclotron where they then react with a beam to form radioactive isotopes. These radioactive isotopes are then taken from the cyclotron, transformed into positron-emitting radiopharmaceuticals (PERs) within the facility’s laboratories. PERs are used for an imaging procedure on patients called positron emission tomography (PET). PET is used in many medical diagnostic applications including early and accurate detection of cancer and detecting certain diseases of the heart and brain. In combination with the PET/CT, PET/MRI, preclinical PET imaging scanners, the cyclotron facility is available to support a wide variety of research projects including PET imaging applied to oncology, cardiology, neurology, psychology, bioelectromagnetics, and other areas. This new Cyclotron Facility allows imaging researchers in London to remain at the forefront of hybrid imaging and facilitates the discovery of new radiopharmaceuticals in order to improve understanding, prevention and treatment of various diseases. This leading edge medical imaging is then used to drive the commercialization of new discoveries. The Cyclotron Facility has been funded by the Canada Foundation of Innovation (CFI), through the Biomedical Multimodality Hybrid Imaging project, with the balance of the funding coming from private sector partners.
