Health experts call for local Cyclotron Unit after PET scanner breakdowns

• Establishing a Cyclotron Unit which manufactures radio isotope for PET scanners could dramatically reduce burden on state health budget
• Only NHSL and Apeksha Hospital, Maharagama are equipped with PET scanners which suffered shutdowns recently
• A PET scan in private sector costs around Rs. 200,000

By Randima Attygalle

Health experts are calling for a local Cyclotron Unit after the breakdown of PET scanners at the National Hospital and the Apeksha Hospital causing serious concern among patients and doctors alike.

Sources said securing radio isotope which is the radioactive material (FDG) used for PET (Positron emission tomography) scanners in the state health sector has become a challenge given the colossal cost it entails. At the National Hospital (NHSL) alone, around 20-30 patients are sent for PET scans each week. 

The cost of a single PET scan in the private sector is around Rs. 200,000. This facility too is confined to one private hospital in the country, given the huge amount of funds it requires for the facility, Daily FT learns.

The PET scanner at NHSL stopped functioning early this year after the Indian supplier of radioactive materials (radio isotope FDG) required for the scanner, halted the supply due to the non-payment of bills running into several millions. It is learnt that the PET scanner at the Apeksha Hospital in Maharagama is not functioning as well due to radio isotope shortage.  PET scans, according to Apeksha hospital sources, are done on a weekly basis. 

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a combination of nuclear medicine and biochemical analysis used globally for the detection of brain cancer and many other forms of cancers and their spread into the other areas in the body. PET scans are also done on patients following a heart attack to determine if there is a proper blood flow. 

They are also used to evaluate the function of organs and tissues for the presence of disease or other conditions. A PET scan which requires radio isotope to be administered to patients, has limited half-life, as it starts to weaken its potential from the time it is manufactured.

“The drug needs to be administered within a very short time from the point of manufacturing it, the reason why non-producing countries source this from the nearest destination. Right now, we are sourcing radio isotope from India,” a consultant in Nuclear Medicine, on grounds of anonymity told Daily FT. The SL Airline flight delays currently experienced, could delay the drug up to about seven hours, making it a double whammy, he said further.

Establishing a Cyclotron Unit which is responsible for manufacturing this radioactive component for PET/CT imaging, here at home could dramatically reduce the colossal cost it has on the state health budget, points out the health experts. 

“In the only private hospital the PET scan facility is presently available, it costs a patient around Rs. 200,000 and only the affluent minority could afford this, leaving masses at stake,” points out a leading Consultant in Nuclear Medicine who goes onto note that a considerable number of local patients even fly to neighbouring India where a PET scan is still less expensive compared to the local rate.

The idea of setting up a local Cyclotron unit under the Ministry of Power and Energy which was first mooted during the Yahapalana regime eventually went under the carpet as health sources point out. “However, there is hope for the resurgence of this ambitious project which will garner numerous long-term benefits for the country,” said one of the officials.