Florida Times-Union
by Beth Reese Cravey

The $10 million Robert and Monica Jacoby Building houses a $1.5 million cyclotron, a particle accelerator that produces radioactive pharmaceuticals for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. When injected intravenously prior to a patient undergoing scans, the drugs create accurate images of tumors and other abnormalities, even small amounts of cancer cells. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of Mayo Clinic’s new positron emission tomography radiochemistry facility in Jacksonville, a groundbreaking addition that will help doctors detect patients’ medical conditions such as cancer and heart disease in their early stages…“The cyclotron is an invaluable tool for patient care and innovation,” said Kent Thielen, CEO of Mayo Clinic in Florida. “It will help us diagnose a number of conditions earlier and with far greater precision. All three Mayo Clinic campuses now have cyclotrons, which mean we can work together even more effectively to advance this field and bring new advancements to patients.”

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Context: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of a positron emission tomography radiochemistry facility, also known as the cyclotron facility, at Mayo Clinic in Florida.

Mayo Clinic is now the only academic center with a cyclotron facility in Northeast Florida that is approved by the FDA for patient care. This approval paves the way for Mayo to use sophisticated imaging agents to detect medical conditions at early stages. This facility will deliver breakthrough diagnostic tests and research capabilities for individualizing patient care across a wide range of applications, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, dementia and infections.

"The cyclotron is an invaluable tool for patient care and innovation," says Kent Thielen, M.D., CEO of Mayo Clinic in Florida. "It will help us diagnose a number of conditions earlier and with far greater precision. All three Mayo Clinic campuses now have cyclotrons, which mean we can work together even more effectively to advance this field and bring new advancements to patients." You can read more about the cyclotron facility here.

Contact: Tia Ford

Tags: Cancer, cyclotron facility, Dr. Kent Thielen, Florida Times-Union, heart disease, Mayo Clinic in Florida, radiochemistry, Uncategorized