GE Healthcare Launches Small Cyclotron and PET Tracer Production Solution

June 8, 2015 - GE Healthcare announced that it has created a solution to make positron emission tomography (PET) tracers for diagnostic imaging more readily available. At the Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI), GE launched new products for radiopharmaceutical manufacturing, including GENtrace, a small cyclotron, with a smaller footprint that is optimized for ease-of-use; and FASTlab 2, a PET tracer production module with FDG Duo cassettes, to maximize the hot cell capacity.

Tracers for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging procedures play a critical role in medical care today. Yet the logistics of getting tracers onsite at healthcare providers' facilities can sometimes prove difficult for sites outside of radiopharmacies' distribution network, particularly in emerging markets.

The GENtrace cyclotron is the third instrument in GE's family of cyclotrons used to produce the isotope fluorine-18 (F-18), which provides the foundation for PET tracer manufacturing. The device is simple to use due to more automated steps, takes up less space and can be operated by a nuclear medicine technician. With these benefits, facilities in emerging markets and those outside the distribution radius for PET tracers can become autonomous in their F-18 manufacturing.

FASTlab 2 is the newest generation of the FASTlab platform for PET tracer production, which contains an automated cassette-based system and the assurance of reliable, reproducible and consistent quality during each run. Users are able to use two independent FASTlab 2 systems performing multiple runs in the same hot cell, gaining efficiency and saving time. FDG Duo is the new cassette complementing the existing FASTlab cassette portfolio, with integrated reagents allowing users to perform two consecutive fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) citrate runs without having to open the hot cell door. Together, this allows up to four FDG runs or FDG runs with alternative PET tracers in combinations - maximizing the capacity and versatility of the instrument's hot cell output.

Like all other GE FASTlab cassettes, FDG Duo is a pre-assembled integrated cassette, with Good Manufacturing Process (GMP)-grade reagents included in the cassettes. FASTlab 2 also offers flexibility and range because it allows the use of tracer applications from third-party research partners and can help develop additional innovative tracers thanks to two built-in reactors. FASTlab 2 and FDG Duo cassettes can help customers optimize their PET tracer production and achieve more, providing flexible production capacity and better economics.

Using both the GENtrace cyclotron and FASTlab 2 automated PET tracer production platform as a package called TRACERcenter VIP, out-of-network facilities can provide increased access to PET tracers and benefit from the flexibility of customizing tracers for their specific patient needs.

For more information: www.gehealthcare.com