A team from IGFAE successfully produces carbon-11 for medical imaging using laser acceleration

A research team led by scientists from the Galician Institute of High Energy Physics (IGFAE), a member of the CIGUS Network, an initiative launched by the regional government (Xunta de Galicia) that groups together centres of accredited scientific excellence, has managed to produce for the first time the radioisotope carbon-11 offering conditions suitable for use in medical imaging based on laser acceleration.

The journal Scientific Reports recently published the article detailing this experiment. “Although the production of radioisotopes for medical imaging using laser acceleration was demonstrated a few years ago, this is the first time they have been produced for a sufficiently long period for use in medical imaging,” explained Aarón Alejo, a Ramón y Cajal researcher at IGFAE.  

The experiment was conducted at the Pulsed Laser Centre (CLPU by its Spanish initials) in Salamanca as part of a collaboration project between IGFAE, the University of Seville, the Institute for Instrumentation in Molecular Imaging (CSIC), and Valencia’s Polytechnic University.

This breakthrough offers a promising avenue for improving access to diagnostic imaging using radiotracers. However, such tests are currently limited by the technology required to carry them out.