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Finding Cures. Saving Children.
Nuclear Medicine Division
The Division of Nuclear Medicine is in the Department of Radiological Sciences and consists of the Nuclear Medicine Clinic and the Molecular Imaging Research Laboratories. Nuclear Medicine became its own division in August of 2004. In April of 2007 St. Jude installed a state of the art cyclotron for production of radioactive drugs for a medical imaging procedure called positron emission tomography (PET). The St. Jude cyclotron is the most powerful medical cyclotron on the market today. It is the first one of its type in the U.S. and is the only one to date that is used solely for diseases of children.
The PET scan is a diagnostic tool that uses a type of radioactivity to measure biologic processes as they occur in the body. The processes that can be measured include blood flow, tumor growth rate, and the action of chemotherapy drugs. Scientists and physicians at St. Jude knew the importance of PET imaging in the diagnosis and management of childhood diseases, so the cyclotron/radiochemistry facility was added to the Radiological Science Department and became the core of the Molecular Imaging Research Laboratories. The facility became operational in February of 2008 and started processing radioactive drugs for scanning patients in mid-summer.
The focus of research in the Nuclear Medicine Division is the development of new PET imaging drugs and new methods for using existing radioactive drugs for PET. We currently produce 6 different radioactive drugs for imaging and have ongoing research projects in imaging brain tumors, neuroblastoma, and sarcomas among others. As we develop novel PET imaging drugs, the safety of our children at St. Jude will be held to the highest of standards, well beyond the requirements of any state or FDA regulations. We perform at a level of safety that is higher than what many other PET facilities incorporate as standard practice. Each dose of radioactive drug is tested to be sure that all trace contaminants are removed, tested for sterility, and that no chemicals that may cause the patient an allergic reaction are present. There is a very detailed process for making sure that patient safety is secure within the environment of Nuclear Medicine Clinic.
As we move forward toward diagnosing, managing, and finding cures for childhood diseases the Nuclear Medicine Division will continue to develop cutting edge research to advance the capabilities of nuclear imaging for the children and families of St. Jude. This division will continue to be the model for research, safety, and technological advances in the nuclear medicine diagnostic arena.
