NIF Radiopharmaceuticals 

The WA NIF is partnered with RAPID, the cyclotron laboratory at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. RAPID is currently undergoing a significant expansion, with the installation of a new cyclotron and GMP Radiopharmaceuticals facility. This is enabling the newest and most impactful PET tracers to be generated right here on the QEII Health Campus.

Our human imaging systems

PET radiopharmaceuticals, or ‘tracers’ function just like a dye made from a medical isotope. The actual amount is vanishingly small, but they can be easily seen and monitored in the human body using a PET camera.
The most commonly used PET radiopharmaceutical is FDG (2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose, and it is the most readily available around Australia. As a marker for glucose metabolism it targets cancer cells, which are growing much faster than they should, making them visible on the PET camera. It is indicated for a broad spectrum of different cancers as well as for infection and inflammation.
Some cancers (depending on their type or stage) do not take up FDG as effectively. This is where other more specialised PET tracers come into the picture. Some of these, like [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11, target a receptor on the surface of cancer cells, a bit like a key fitting into a specific lock. This is being used to diagnose prostate cancer and monitor therapy. There are also now therapy versions of PSMA which deliver a dose of radiation to prostate cancer cells in a targeted strike, like a guided missile. Other PET tracers, like the labelled amino acid [18F]FET, act as a tracer for amino acid transport processes and are useful for imaging glioma.
PET tracers also have plenty of applications outside of cancer - they are also very good for studying Alzheimer’s Disease. There are tracers like [18F]NAV-4694 and [18F]MK-6240 which bind to the plaques and proteins in the brain that are characteristic of this condition. They allow us to see the disease develop over time or (hopefully) respond to new exciting drugs.

Although FDG can be arranged on most days, the availability of specialised radiopharmaceuticals is not always a simple process, and we invite you to discuss this with us in the early planning stages of your study. We are here to help. The WA NIF Radiochemistry Fellow will assist in navigating all the possibilities and options.

Further, if there is interest in radiolabelling novel molecules for pre-clinical imaging, this can also be explored. Radiochemistry specifically tailored for your animal study can be developed.

For some short informative videos on PET radiochemistry and imaging, please check out one of these videos from Siemens and Imperial College London.

Image of a Hot Lab

WA NIF Hot Lab

In addition to our TEMA Karl100 automated dispenser, the NIF facility is equipped with a dedicated laboratory for handling radiopharmaceuticals. We have a shielded laminar flow hood equipped with a dose calibrator, for drawing up unit doses in a clean-air environment. The lab is also equipped with centrifuge for blood work, and a Wizard2 gamma counter for performing assays. This last piece of equipment can be especially useful for dynamic PET imaging, as well as to support preclinical work. It can be used for most therapy radionuclides as well as for PET.

Image of the Radiopharmaceutical lab

GMP Radiopharmaceutical Lab (RAPID)

Through UWA, NIF has contributed significant funds to the building of a Research Radiopharmaceutical Suite in the new RAPID GMP Laboratory, at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. The lab will be dedicated to PET radiopharmaceutical R&D, particularly for those tracers required to be manufactured in a more regulated environment. More will be announced following the official opening of the facility in early 2025.

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FAQ

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Location and contact

Email: [email protected]

Address: WA National Imaging Facility
Level 3, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research
QEII Medical Centre campus 
Nedlands WA 6009 

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