The Lawson Health Research Institute in London, Ontario, has received more than $1 million for research into developing alternative methods for producing medical isotopes.
The money is part of a $5.4 million allocation from the Canadian government's Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
The Open Grants Alternative Radiopharmaceuticals for Medical Imaging Competition is funding seven projects across Canada to develop alternatives that aren't based on nuclear reactor technology to address the shortage of technetium-99m (Tc-99m).
Lawson's research is designed to validate and clinically test a modified technetium-99m formula optimized for use in diagnosing and monitoring the spread of breast cancer through sentinel node imaging.
It is hoped that the research will lead to more efficient use of technetium-99m during a medical isotope shortage and provide less waste for breast cancer and other imaging procedures.
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