- 01 Overview
- 02 Radiochemistry Laboratories Science Highlights
- 03 How it Works
01 Overview
TRIUMF’s radiochemistry laboratories combine cutting-edge expertise in the research and production of radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals for use in nuclear medicine and the broader life sciences.
Radioisotopes are imaging molecules and therapeutic drugs whose active component is a short-lived radioactive isotope, also called a medical isotope or radiopharmaceutical. These are the core of nuclear medicine, the field of health care that uses radiation for therapy and medical imaging.
Every day, several hundred thousand patients world-wide have life-saving treatments and images using radiopharmaceuticals, including positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) scans. Along with brain and bone imaging, radioisotopes are particularly used for diagnosing and treating heart disease and cancer, the two leading causes of death in North America.
The most widely used imaging radioisotope is technetium-99m (99mTc) used in about 80% of all nuclear imaging. In Canada, about 7,000 patients a day have a 99mTc scan, primarily for heart stress test and bone imaging. Currently, most 99mTc is produced through an expensive process involving just several nuclear reactors for the entire global supply.
TRIUMF radiochemistry researchers have invented a ground-breaking small medical cyclotron-based, solid target system that enables the abundant, cost-effective production of 99mTc. The technology is being commercialized by TRIUMF spin-off company ARTMS. The technology developed to produce 99mTc has also been repurposed to produce other important medical isotopes like gallium-68 (68Ga), copper-64 (64Cu), and zirconium-89 (89Zr).
Similarly, TRIUMF is a Canadian pioneer in the production of the carbon-11 (11C) and fluorine-18 (18F), medical isotopes used in PET scanning, the most precise form of nuclear imaging.
Presently, nuclear medicine is experiencing a renaissance with research into new radiopharmaceuticals, including ones for personalized medicine combining specific targeted therapies in response to targeted diagnostic tests.
In TRIUMF’s radiochemistry laboratories, teams of physicists, chemists and engineers collaborate with a diverse, international network of clinical and life scientists to turn fundamental research into new radiopharmaceuticals. The radiochemistry laboratories also support long-standing partnerships with British Columbian and Canadian nuclear medicine organizations, including UBC Hospital and BC Cancer.
02 Radiochemistry Laboratories Science Highlights
03 How it Works
Based in an annex of the Meson Hall, the TRIUMF radiochemistry laboratories are centred around the TR 13 accelerator. Integrated radioisotope production happens in four radiochemistry labs customized for the research and manufacture of radioisotopes and clinical radiopharmaceuticals.
These facilities support three key areas of nuclear medicine research and production: medical isotope production and isolation; innovations in accelerator targets and nuclear chemistry for radiopharmaceuticals; and the application of accelerator beams for life sciences, including bNMR.
Radioisotope Production
With access to the world’s broadest range of cyclotron energies, from 13 to 500 MeV, TRIUMF’s radiochemistry laboratories produce a diverse mix of radioisotopes using gas, liquid and solid targets.
When an experimental radioisotope is identified, TRIUMF beamline and target physicists model the most efficient method for producing it. The TR 13 cyclotron uses gas and liquid targets to produce a variety of radioisotopes, including 11C and 18F. The produced radioisotopes are transported remotely via a network of valves, feed gasses and liquids that move them out of the target and into a hot cell for chemical processing.
At higher energies, the main 520 MeV cyclotron is used with solid targets to produce a variety of experimental metal medical isotopes, including isotopes of titanium, actinium, bismuth and radium.
Radioisotope Research
For radiochemistry research, TRIUMF’s facilities include a MHESA lab (Meson Hall Extension Service Annex) with four state-of-the-art hot cells, or radiation-shielded, robotic-arm accessed chemistry stations. Each one-meter-cubed hot cell is surrounded on all sides by tons of radiation-shielding lead bricks, with a lead-shielded door with a thick leaded glass window that provides a view of the interior.
Scientists access a hot cell’s interior using a sophisticated robotic arm that enables them to manipulate glassware and other tools for conducting detailed radiochemical experiments and manipulating the manufacturing systems. This includes developing the purification chemistry for potential new radioisotopes.
In the search for new medical isotopes, TRIUMF radiochemistry researchers first work to understand the fundamental physics and chemistry of an isotope. For example, a good radioisotope has a short half-life, and thus leaves little residual radiation in a patient, but must have a long enough half-life to be effectively produced and transported. Thus, TRIUMF scientists work to discover new, rapid radiopharmaceutical synthesis techniques that provide maximum yield, in the shortest time possible.
Similarly, an effective radiopharmaceutical is highly target specific. TRIUMF researchers collaborate with clinical researchers and others to identify targeting molecules, such as sugars, or increasingly, amino acids, peptides and antibodies.
Radiopharmaceutical production with IAMI
For the production of radiopharmaceuticals for clinical and pre-clinical research use in humans, TRIUMF’s IAMI radiochemistry facilities will also operate Health Canada-approved certified Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) labs. These cGMP labs are akin to clean rooms and use specialized commercial radiochemistry synthesis systems that include software and hardware compliance and tracking features. This ensures the patient safety of all the TRIUMF-produced medical isotopes, including 11C and 18F.