Directory of Cyclotrons used for Radionuclide Production in Member ...

FOREWORD
The present directory of cyclotron facilities used for the production of radionuclides in Member
States is an update of the one compiled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in late
2001 and published in 2002. This directory was prepared through information collected by
questionnaires that the IAEA sent to known institutions operating cyclotrons for radionuclide
production. Technical as well as administrative data supplied to the IAEA as of November 2005 were
taken into account.
The directory is considered to include most of the cyclotrons of the world that are used at least
partially for radionuclide production. There are 262 entries for cyclotrons operating in 39 Member
States of the IAEA. This is an increase of 7% over the 246 reported in the 2002 cyclotron directory.
This can be compared to the 350 or so cyclotrons believed to be presently operating in the world,
which are involved in some aspects of radionuclide production. The increase has been in the number
of cyclotrons in developed countries, but even more so in the developing countries. The increase in
number during the last four years was driven by several factors, i.e. advent of advances in medical
imaging, introduction of compact, user friendly medical cyclotron, and a recent decision that costs for
15 O-oxygen position emission tomography (PET) studies in Japan and 18 F-FDG PET studies in
Germany and the United States of America are eligible for reimbursement by government or health
insurance companies. There is no doubt that the fastest growing segment of the market is in the
commercial distribution of FDG to local hospitals.
The IAEA is promoting cyclotron technology as applied to nuclear medicine. Requests for
cyclotron technology is steadily increasing; many developing Member States are interested in this
technology. There is need to stimulate, build and maintain consulting capability in interested
developing Member States. There are good reasons to believe that the number of cyclotron facilities
dedicated to the production of PET tracers will continue to grow in the near future, so the need to
further update the directory will be assessed in due course, depending on comments and suggestions
receiving from users of the directory. This directory will help decision makers and specialists in
Member States to draft mid and long term strategies regarding the implementation of cyclotron
technology for radioisotope production and their medical applications, as well as for selection of the
most suitable alternative.
The IAEA wishes to thank D.J. Schlyer of the Brookhaven National Laboratories, USA, for his
analysis of the data. The IAEA officer responsible for the compilation of the directory was M. Haji-
Saeid of the Division of Physical and Chemical Sciences.