Description

Worked with an interdisciplinary team of engineers, physicists, doctors and chemists, to find an automated solution for the shortage of Technetium-99m (Tc-99m), an isotope used worldwide for medical diagnosing of various diseases.

Features

• Entirely automated transfer and dissolution system
• Control software for automation system

Unique Notes

Historically, Tc-99m was only produced in a select number of nuclear reactors around the world.  In 2007, the National Research Universal Reactor (NRU) in Chalk River, Ontario, was shut down resulting in a worldwide shortage of medical isotopes.  To ensure that there would always be a supply of isotopes, the team developed a system for producing Tc-99m using Cyclotrons (a type of particle accelerator).  The hope was that small cyclotrons could be placed in hospitals around the world, creating a larger supply chain with facilities that would be able to produce their own Tc-99m.