This Saturday began the installation of the cyclotron, a particle accelerator which will generate radiopharmaceuticals to supply the Nuclear Medicine Center from Rio gallegos.
The engineer Priscilla Coronado He said that it is a very important project that will facilitate access to radioactive material that until now is brought from different parts of the country. “Currently, in order to carry out diagnostic studies, radioactive material that is produced in cyclotrons of private companies in different parts of the country must be brought, especially from Buenos Aires“, he explained.
In this sense, he stressed that “machismo would help us as a community, as a region, to have the equipment because it would prevent us from depending on flights to be able to bring radioactive material.”
In addition, he stressed that having this equipment available is essential so that there is not so much waiting list to be able to do the necessary practices in cancer patients.
How does it work?
The physical Sebastian Trivino He explained that the cyclotron consists of a particle accelerator that generates radioisotopes and that will allow the center to be supplied with radiopharmaceuticals.
“It is a particle accelerator that generates nuclear reactions in a target that we are going to put on it and within that target radioisotopes are going to be generated, which are the ones that are going to be used in nuclear medicine,” he explained, adding that attached to the cyclotron there will be a pharmacy radio laboratory. “The radioisotope that is generated inside the cyclotron will be obtained there, and the radiopharmaceutical is generated inside, which will later supply the nuclear medicine center.”
In addition, he assured that it is a “self-shielded cyclotron“, which has a shield of approximately 32 tons and which ensures radiological protection for the personnel who work there and for the general public.
In this sense, the specialists highlighted that the equipment does not generate any kind of damage to the community, the water or the environment.
On Tuesday, authorities of the National Atomic Energy Commission They will arrive in the capital of Santa Cruz to supervise the works.
Finally, they highlighted that it poses a very important advance that points not only to medical development, but also to scientific development, “the boys who go to study elsewhere will have a reason to return and to be able to grow professionally,” he concluded, the Coronado engineer.