The Achilles heel of positron imaging is the production of radiotracers. GE’s long-awaited introduction of FastLAB is designed to help remedy this problem.
The Achilles heel of positron imaging is the production of radiotracers. GE's long-awaited introduction of FastLAB is designed to help remedy this problem.
The cassette-based product, shown at trade shows for the last few years as a work-in-progress, debuted as a commercial product this week in Athens at the Congress of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine. Three evaluation units have been installed. Production line systems will begin shipping the first quarter of next year, according to Jim Mitchell, global radiopharmacy general manager at GE Healthcare.
The single-use cassette contains premeasured amounts of the chemicals needed to synthesize PET radiopharmaceuticals, enabling faster, easier production of these tracers.
"In less than a minute, you can go from an unloaded FastLAB to a FastLAB ready to go," Mitchell said.
Tests at commercial distribution and academic sites in the U.S. and Europe have indicated that FastLAB can produce batches of FDG with a mean uncorrected yield of 70%. This compares favorably with GE's current TracerLAB MX, which has a 60% yield.
FastLAB is not limited to FDG, however. The company is developing cassettes that will allow the production of other radiopharmaceuticals, including GE Healthcare proprietary diagnostic imaging agents. One is now in phase I clinical trials as an indicator of angiogenesis. Another addresses Alzheimer's disease.
Nearer to readiness may be cassettes for producing nonproprietary agents such as sodium fluoride, which is currently being used for bone scans, and (18)F-3'-fluoro-3'-deoxy-L-thymidine (FLT), which can be used to monitor the effect of cancer therapy
What a New Mammography Study Reveals About BMI, Race, Ethnicity and Advanced Breast Cancer Risk
December 8th 2023In a new study examining population attributable risk proportions (PARPs) based on data from over three million screening mammography exams, researchers found that postmenopausal Black women had the highest BMI-related PARP and premenopausal Asian and Pacific Islander women had the highest breast density-related PARP for advanced breast cancer.
Study: Contrast-Enhanced Mammography Changes Surgical Plan in 22.5 Percent of Breast Cancer Cases
December 7th 2023Contrast-enhanced mammography detected additional lesions in 43 percent of patients and led to additional biopsies in 18.2 percent of patients, over half of whom had malignant lesions, according to a study of over 500 women presented at the recent Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conference.