Background: Cyclotrons form a central infrastructure and are a resource of medical
radionuclides for the development of new radiotracers as well as the production and
supply of clinically established radiopharmaceuticals for patient care in nuclear medicine.
Aim: To provide an updated overview of the number and characteristics of cyclotrons
that are currently in use within radiopharmaceutical sciences and for the development
of radiopharmaceuticals to be used for patient care in Nuclear Medicine in Germany (D),
Austria (A) and Switzerland (CH).
Methods: Publicly available information on the cyclotron infrastructure was (i)
consolidated and updated, (ii) supplemented by selective desktop research and, last
but not least, (iii) validated by members of the committee of the academic “Working
Group Radiochemistry and Radiopharmacy” (AGRR), consisting of radiochemists and
radiopharmacists of the D-A-CH countries and belonging to the German Society of
Nuclear Medicine (DGN), as well as the Radiopharmaceuticals Committee of the DGN.
Results: In total, 42 cyclotrons were identified that are currently being operated for
medical radionuclide production for imaging and therapy in Nuclear Medicine clinics,
32 of them in Germany, 4 in Austria and 6 in Switzerland. Two thirds of the cyclotrons
reported (67%) are operated by universities, university hospitals or research institutions
close to a university hospital, less by/in cooperation with industrial partners (29%) or a
non-academic clinic/ PET-center (5%). Most of the cyclotrons (88%) are running with up to 18 MeV proton beams, which is sufficient for the production of the currently most
common cyclotron-based radionuclides for PET imaging.
Discussion: The data presented provide an academically-updated overview of the
medical cyclotrons operated for the production of radiopharmaceuticals and their use
in Nuclear Medicine in the D-A-CH countries. In this context, we discuss current
developments and trends with a view to the cyclotron infrastructure in these countries,
with a specific focus on organizational aspects.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:89291 |
| Date | 26 January 2024 |
| Creators | Zippel, Claus, Ermert, Johannes, Patt, Marianne, Gildehaus, Franz Josef, Ross, Tobias L., Reischl, Gerald, Kuwert, Torsten, Solbach, Christoph, Neumaier, Bernd, Kiss, Oliver, Mitterhauser, Markus, Wadsak, Wolfgang, Schibli, Roger, Kopka, Klaus |
| Publisher | MDPI |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | 850414 |
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