The provincial government is giving $4 million to bring PET-CT (Positron Emission Tomography Computerized Tomography) scan services to Saskatchewan and also $10 million towards a research cyclotron.
The province is providing $4 million towards the $6-million purchase, renovations and installation of the PET-CT scanner. The Saskatoon Health Region’s Royal University Hospital Foundation has committed to raise the remaining $2 million.
“The introduction of PET-CT treatment and research services is a very positive step forward for patients in Saskatchewan,” said Health Minister Don McMorris.
“What this means for patients is they will no longer have to travel outside of the province to receive this service. We owe it to our patients to provide the highest quality care and the latest treatments, as close to home as possible.”
According to a government release, PET scans provide clinical information that is not available from diagnostic tests such as MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) exams or CT scans. PET scans are used mainly during treatment of cancer patients to determine the treatment required and monitor its effectiveness.
When the scanner is fully operational, it will have the capacity to provide about 2,000 scans per year. Saskatchewan patients who need a PET scan are currently sent to Edmonton or Winnipeg for this service. The province covers the cost of out-of-province PET scans.
Renovations and installation will begin in the 2011-12 fiscal year, and the new PET-CT scanner is expected to be operational during 2012-13.
A $17-million investment for a cyclotron includes $10 million from the Government of Saskatchewan and $7 million from the Government of Canada. The research cyclotron announced Friday will generate short-lived, radioactive PET-CT isotopes, required to support the delivery of the new PET-CT medical imaging program. The cyclotron will also support research into the direct production of Technetium-99, the most widely used medical isotope in the world.
“This cyclotron will enable the production of the isotopes needed to provide the PET-CT program to Saskatchewan patients,” Innovation Minister Rob Norris said in the release.
“This is a critical partnership that marries the science and technology of innovation with the real-time delivery of health services.”
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