Mr Ion is back! The isotope factory: inside a cyclotron

In nuclear medicine, time behaves like a melting ice cube in your hands. From the moment a radioisotope is created, it starts to disappear. Unlike conventional medicines that can be stored for months, radioisotopes lose their strength minute after minute. Using them efficiently becomes a race against the clock.
 

Each radioisotope has its own internal timer, known as its half-life. This determines how quickly its radioactive activity decreases. Many of the most used isotopes have very short half-lives. Fluorine-18, for example, widely used in cancer diagnosis, loses half of its activity in just 110 minutes. Every minute lost is activity that cannot be recovered, and less radiation means the signals become harder to detect by the imaging equipment.
 

With time melting away, distance matters. Radioisotopes must be produced as close as possible to where patients are treated, often directly within or next to hospitals.
 

This is where the cyclotron comes into play. A cyclotron can be seen as a high-speed isotope factory, producing exactly what it is needed and when it is needed. Using high-energy physics, it accelerates charged particles and directs it toward a target to create medical radioisotopes. These isotopes do not exist in usable form in nature and must be manufactured on demand, with precision.
 

To understand how this isotope factory works from inside, meet Mister Ion, a friendly guide who takes you into the heart of a cyclotron. In this video, discover how particles are accelerated and how radioisotopes are created.
 

But the story does not end with the cyclotron. Freshly produced radioisotopes are still raw ingredients. Before being administered to patients, they must be transformed into radiopharmaceuticals. This final step takes place in the radiopharmacy.