Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust has unveiled a new radiochemistry unit at St Thomas Hospital in central London, part of a partnership between the Trust and King’s College London.
The Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Centre has undergone a rebuilding process over the past 8 years, and the centre is the only NHS facility to have a certified licence awarded by the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to produce tracers from radioactive isotopes for clinical use.
The facility has added a new cyclotron and radiochemistry laboratory, where isotopes are chemically attached to pharmaceuticals to produce the radioactive tracers needed for PET scans.
Professor Ian Abbs, chief executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “Improving the quality of patient care is at the heart of everything we do at Guy’s and St Thomas’ and we have made significant investment in our imaging services in recent years to enhance both clinical service delivery and research, working closely with King’s College London.”
“This has included investment in our PET Centre, as PET scans are key to diagnosis and treatment for patients with a number of conditions, including some cancers.
“I am delighted that the new cyclotron and radiochemistry laboratory have now been licenced by the MHRA as this will ensure we are able to produce the most modern radiotracers, to the highest standard, onsite next to our scanning suite for the benefit of our patients now and in the future.”
Professor Sebastien Ourselin, head of King’s College London’s School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, added: “This is a critical milestone for our PET Centre. This achievement will further propel our innovative pipeline of new compounds, enabling us to provide the best care to our patients. I would like to congratulate the entire team for this exciting development.”
