The Research / Development and Medical Applications of Isotope and Radiation Technology in Taiwan Lie-Hang Shen , Mei-Hsiu Liao , Ying-Kai Fu Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Atomic Energy Council, Taiwan, ROC
With the installation of H-/D - cyclotron in 1993, the Institute of Nuclear Energy Research (INER) has successfully developed radioisotopes such as 67
18
Ga, and
123
I,
201
Tl,
F. Up to now, 12 radiopharmaceuticals
13
including C-urea for breath test of Helicobacter pylori infection produced by INER have been licensed by the Department of Health for commercial production and distribution in Taiwan. The INER’s cyclotron and radiopharmaceutical facilities are operated according to ISO9001 and cGMP.
201
Tl-TlCl and 18F-FDG, etc., are sup-
plied by INER to local hospitals. Some radiopharmaceuticals are produced for preclinical and clinical trials, such as
123
I-ADAM,
123
I-IBZM,
123
I-MIBG and
111
In-DTPA-
Octreotide, etc. INER also supplies several cold kits to the domestic market for cals.
60
99m
Tc-labeled radiopharmaceuti-
Co irradiation is applied in several fields in
Taiwan, including medicine, agriculture, and industries. Another application of irradiation is in fine arts and sciences treasured by the nation. Recently, the 60Co facility obtained ISO-9001 certification. In conclusion, the prospects of isotope and radiation application in Taiwan are promising, and will continuously benefit the people and the society in our country. Key words: medical isotopes, radiopharmaceuticals, cyclotron, 60Co irradiation, radiation oncology
Ann Nucl Med Sci 2004;17:93-104
Received 12/17/2003; revised 2/5/2004; accepted 2/10/2004. For correspondence or reprints contact: Lie-Hang Shen, Ph.D., Isotope Application Division, Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, 1000 Wen-Hua Road, Cha-An Village, Lung-Tan, Taoyuan 325, Taiwan, ROC. Tel: (886)3-4711400 ext. 7010, Fax: (886)3-4711416, E-mail: lhshen@iner.gov.tw
Introduction In Taiwan, the Institute of Nuclear Energy Research (INER) has been working together with research groups in medical centers for a long time, and those in other institutes, studying in the fields of isotope and production technique and their applications [1-15]. Through 1973 to 1988, INER had developed isotope laboratories for the production of isotopes with the 40 MW Taiwan Research Reactor (TRR), such as the production of 99Mo from fission products. In 1987, a production license for 99Mo /99mTc generator was approved by the Department of Health (DOH) [2,3]. The shut down of the TRR in 1988 forced the local users to import radioactive products to meet the growing demand for the hospitals and the industry. Table 1 shows the top four imported nuclear medicine radioisotopes which are 99mTc, 131I, 201Tl and 67Ga. Malignant neoplasm, cerebrovascular disease and heart disease are the three leading causes of death in Taiwan. To improve the quality of health care for those patients, more and more nuclear medicine department and PET centers have been set up in local hospitals. Table 2 shows that, more than 92 SPECT and 15 PET scanners have been installed in 49 local hospitals, and 230,000 examinations had been performed in 2002. To meet with the increasing demand from nuclear medicine community for short-lived radiopharmaceuticals, such as 201Tl-thallous chloride, 67Ga-gallium citrate, 123Isodium iodide and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), INER installed a dual-beam compact cyclotron (H-: 15-30 MeV; D-: 8-15 MeV) with high beam current (500 ÂľA) in 1993 [3]. Figure 1 shows the statistics of cyclotrons and PET facilities in Taiwan by the end of 2003. In 1965, the first local 60Co irradiation plant was set up at the Industrial Technology Institute, Hsinchu, and was the beginning of radiation application research and development