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The Cyclotron Facility in Thunder Bay
-How we got here and where we are going
Mike Campbell, Ph.D.
Director of Cyclotron Operations and Radiation Safety Officer
Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute
Why a Cyclotron in Thunder Bay
• Research Institute started in 2007 with a focus on imaging
• Making better imaging detectors (See it)
• Developing more specific diagnostic agents (Tag it)
• Using imaging to guide non-invasive surgery (Treat it)
• 2008 TBRHSC Cancer Program commissioned a PET
scanner
• In order to meet patient needs and to support research, it was
decided to bring a cyclotron to Thunder Bay.
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So we are all on the same page...
• What is a cyclotron and what
does it do?
• Proton accelerator
• Not like in Ghost Busters...
• Used to make relatively
short-lived radioactive
isotopes that can be used
for medical imaging
• Also requires supporting
infrastructure such as
radiopharmacy labs
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What do cyclotrons make
• The work horse isotope is Fluorine-18 (half-life ~110min)
• However, to get that to find cancer, it must be incorporated
into a drug that cancer cells take up faster than healthy
cells.
• The main example of this is FDG.
• Radiolabeled glucose molecule that is metabolized by cancer
cells
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Thunder Bay’s Cyclotron
• One of the challenges with having a PET scanner in Thunder
Bay was getting the short-lived isotopes here.
• Must navigate loss of activity due to radioactive decay
• Material not arriving due to weather or flight cancellations
• We don’t have the population base in NWO to survive by just
making FDG for our local patient needs. Have to sell
externally
• Time and distance work against us for shipping things out
just as it does for bringing things in
• Need longer half-life products
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Thunder Bay’s Cyclotron
• We made the strategic decision to install a “larger” cyclotron
in Thunder Bay.
• Higher initial cost but...
• Able to produce longer-lived isotopes.
• Fluorine-18 and FDG still have same half-life (110 min)
• Indium-111 (2.8 days)
• Gallium-67 (3.25 days)
• Iodine (13 hours)
• Iodine-124 (4.2 days)
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Before we started production...
• Lots of planning and hair loss
• Funding
• Very fortunate to have strong support of:
• The community
• Federal Government (FedNor)
• Provincial Government (NOHFC)
• Municipal Government
• Facility
• Has to be able to operate safely
• Radiation Safety – Workers, Public and Environment
• Products for the patients
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So we want to make radioactive materials in your
neighborhood...
• Working with the public and being open about everything we
are doing is critical
• As part of our licensing we initiated a Public Information Program
(PIP) to let the public know what our plans were and to give them a
chance to ask questions.
• We have conducted over 20 public information sessions or invited
talks in the community.
• We have taken over 1500 people through the facility to show them
what we do and the safety measures we have in place.
• We wanted information on cyclotrons and radiation to come
from us, not YouTube.
• Support from the community has been exceptionally positive!
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I so t o pes hav e d i f f er en t n u m ber s o f
n eu t r oisn#1
s.
Safety
• A lot of work went into making sure all the safety systems
work together during commissioning
• Constant testing to make sure they continue to work
Ju st l i k e so m e co o k i es hav e d i f f er en t
u m bersafety
s o f is cjust
hoas
coimportant
l at e c hi ps...
• nProduct
• Need to be able to show we can consistently make a
quality product
• More importantly we have the controls in place to catch
something if it goes wrong
• Treat every dose as if it is going to a family member
...bu t co o k i es t a st e bet t er.
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The Facility
• Still in the early stages.
• Just received our license to operate from the CNSC in
February 2016.
• Working to submit our license application to Health
Canada for FDG.
• Allow us to prepare doses for human use
• Developing all the procedures to allow us to prepare radio-
pharmaceuticals safely.
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Cyclotron Bunker
Equipment Room
Research Lab
Clinical Lab
QA / QC Lab
Shipping
Support Spaces
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Where are we now
Class 7 – 352,000 p/m3
Normal room air
~35,000,000
Particles 0.5
microns or larger per
cubic meter
Class 8 – 3,520,000 p/m3
• Getting clean!
Class 5 – 3,520 p/m3
We have achieved class 6 on both of our buffer
rooms
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Keep it clean
• We spend a significant portion of our time cleaning
• Clean and sanitize the production rooms
• Mop from ceiling to floor
• Sample surfaces to see if any bacteria is present
• Sample the air to determine the number of bacteria per cubic
meter
• ISO Class 5 anything more than one bacteria colony per
cubic meter the area fails.
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Function over fashion
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It’s the details...
• ...That will ensure you succeed and that will drive you crazy.
• It is the little things you never thing will be a problem that
that will trip you up
• Draft coming in around an electrical outlet that was causing
clean room to fail classification
• Vial 4mm too tall to fit in lead shipping container. Needed to
have new holder printed
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Most important asset
• People
• Training and repetition of tasks to ensure competence
• Safety and quality can never be compromised
“Treat each dose as if you are preparing
it for a family member.”
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What will having a cyclotron in Thunder Bay do for
us?
• Most important thing is we will be able to meet local patient
needs for FDG.
• Research
• We want to go beyond the information that FDG provides.
• FDG is excellent at answering the question, “Is there
cancer?”
• Not so good at answering “What drug should we use to treat the
cancer?”
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What additional information can we get?
• The information we can receive from FDG is similar to a black
& white photo.
• It tells us cancer is present but doesn’t tell us which drug to
use to treat it.
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What additional information can we get?
• Can we get more information (colour) with other imaging
agents?
• Can we create radio-labeled versions of different
chemotherapy agents to answer the question “Which drug
should we use?”
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Use of PET to help guide therapy
• Add to the value of the scan
• For a drug to be able to kill a
tumour it needs to be able to get
to the tumour
• Drug A
• Drug B
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For more information
• Including photos, virtual tours and information of future public
tours and information sessions please visit
www.TBRHRI.ca
• Click on the cyclotron tab
[email protected]
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Thank you!
• The team from the cyclotron facility
• Terry Fodë
• Bozin Nedanovski
• Jesse Walker
• Sonja Desjardins
• Melissa Quance
• TBRHSC Foundation
• FedNor
• NOHFC
• City of Thunder Bay
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