Sensitive pre-clinical biomedical imaging is critical for conducting animal studies in search of cures for diseases in people and animals. Jefferson Lab has already drawn on its expertise in detector technology to design and build several small-animal imagers for biomedical research. These tools are already being used for basic research into diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and cystic fibrosis.

After years of design, construction and testing, Jefferson Lab is installing a state-of-the-art Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) tracking detector in one of its experimental areas. The detector tracks charged particles, such as those emitted by cancer cells tagged with a radiopharmaceutical or radiation beams used to target cancers. The extreme precision and fast readout technologies developed for the GEM detectors are now being applied to new state-of-the-art systems for nuclear medicine. 

A medical isotope made from radioactive copper, called Cu-67, is an important therapeutic analog for image-guided radiopharmaceutical therapy for cancer and inflammatory diseases. Jefferson Lab is studying the viability of using its Low Energy Recirculator Facility to produce Cu-67 in a novel way, which may result in another avenue to secure this rare and valuable radioisotope for use in the patients who need it most.