Nuclear Medicine

Introduction
Nuclear Medicine Department is located in a separate building next to the netball court at the rear side of the Hospital Putrajaya compound. It is a new department which consists of two (2) sections; PET-CT (Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography) Clinical service and Radiopharmaceutical Preparation-Cyclotron Facility. The construction of this building commenced in February 2005 and was completed in March 2006. The Nuclear Medicine Department was officiated by the then D.Y.M.M. S.P.B. Raja Permaisuri Agong Raja Tuanku Fauziah Binti Almarhum Abd. Rashid on 7^th November 2006.

This department provides the following services:

1. PET-CT clinical diagnostic service mainly for oncology (cancer) patient;
2. PET radiopharmaceutical production for ‘in-house’ use as well as to supply other government hospitals and (in future) private hospitals/institutions.

Vision
To become a centre of excellence in Nuclear Medicine providing efficient, up-to-date and timely nuclear medicine services.

Mission
Provide effective and up-to-date Nuclear Medicine services through the safe use of radiopharmaceuticals.

1. To provide clinical PET-CT service.
2. To produce PET Radiopharmaceuticals for in-house use as well as to support the PET CT service from other public or private hospitals.
3. To become a training centre for clinical PET service as well as for PET Radiopharmaceutical production

PET-CT Service

What is PET? PET is stands for ‘Positron Emission Tomography’.  It is a procedure where radioactive substances (PET radiopharmaceuticals) are injected into a patient and a special scanner (PET scanner) is used to detect the emitted rays from the body. CT or Computed Tomography component is built into this special scanner.  Therefore, PET-CT is a fusion of two modalities; PET and CT scanner which provide functional and anatomical information respectively.

The radiopharmaceuticals used in PET scanning include F-18 FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose), F-18 FDOPA (Fluoro–L Dopa) and F-18 FLT (Fluoro-thymidine) and others. The indication for this service including  cancer staging, monitoring chemotherapy response and  identifying relapse or recurrence of cancer. Currently, only FDG is used in our facility.

The PET-CT clinical service started in January 2007. The department has performed 1281 cases so far (till end of November 2009). Currently, we are scanning 30-80 cases per month with our patients coming from all over the country. Our main referral institutions are UMMC (University Malaya Medical Centre), Ampang Hospital, Kuala Lumpur Hospital and UKM Hospital.

How to get an appointment?

1. Referral Doctor can request for appointment by completing a ‘Request Form’ which can be obtained from our department
   at PET-CT Service counter.
2. The ‘Request Form’ will then submitted to Nuclear Medicine Specialist for approval.
3. Our Staff Nurse will contact the patient by phone to confirm appointment date and will counsel each patient on the necessary preparation for this procedure.

(‘ Request Form’ will be made available in pdf file attachment and is downloadable)

Patient Preparation ( will be made available as a pdf file  attachment and is downladable ) *Patients undergoing PET-CT scanning need to follow these instructions:

Nuclear Medicine contact details :

a) 03-83145501 ( tel )

b) 03-83124377 ( fax )

PET Radiopharmaceutical Preparation Service

Hospital Putrajaya is the first and only (so far) government facility to own a PET radiopharmaceutical Preparation-Cyclotron  facility. The department has a 16.5 MeV Cyclotron and four (4) Synthesis Modules as well as one (1) dispensing module to synthesize and dispense PET radiopharmaceuticals. The production area is certified cleanroom of  Grade C whereas the synthesis and dispensing units are certified cleanroom Grade B and Grade A respectively. A Quality Control Lab equipped with several equipments such as High Performance Liquid Chromatography, Gas Chromatography and Radio-Thin Layer Chromatography serves to test the radiopharmaceutical product before clinical use.

The Hospital Putrajaya radiopharmaceutical production facility was approved by National Pharmaceutical Control Bureau (NPCB) to produce FDG for in-house use in November 2006. This facility was certified as a cGMP compliant production facility on 23^rd April 2008 by the same authority. However the cGMP certificate was issued in February 2009 after the  radiopharmaceutical F-18 FDG was registered with the Ministry of Health on the 29^th January under the trade name FDG Putra Injection with the registration number MAL 09011503X.

Currently, the facility not only provides FDG Putra  for in-house use but also  supplies it  to Penang Hospital since 18 December 2008 to support the PET-CT Service there.

Training – PET-CT & PET Radiopharmaceutical Preparation

Since 2008 this facility has been served as a venue for training students from institutions of higher learning. They include Nuclear Physics and Pharmacy undergraduate students from UKM, UiTM and IIUM who  undergo their industrial attachment and  doctors from the Radiology Master’s program  of UMMC  who use this centre for the clinical PET-CT  attachment.

Future Plan

1. Efforts are in progress to supply FDG Putra Injection to  other institutions outside the Ministry of Health.
2. Plans are in process to produce F-18 FDOPA (Fluoro–L Dopa) and F-18 FLT (Fluoro-thymidine).

Attachments:

File	File size	Downloads
PATIENT PREPARATION GUIDE	456 Kb	935
PET CT Request Form	52 Kb	529