Great-West Life PET / CT Centre

Thanks to a generous $500,000 commitment from The Great-West Life Assurance Company, the Health Sciences Centre’s extensive imaging technology group will soon feature an on-site cyclotron that will allow the Health Sciences Centre to produce its own isotopes for its PET/CT scanner.

The PET/CT is non-invasive, imaging technology that allows examination of metabolic activity in the brain, heart, liver, tumors and muscle tissue. The Health Sciences Centre has one of the most advanced units in North America.

The ability to produce these isotopes here will effectively double the hospital's capacity to provide scanning services to patients. That means shorter wait times – an immediate impact on patient care. 

Other benefits include the expansion of research programs at the Siemens Institute for Advanced Medicine, and an enhanced ability to attract top researchers and clinicians. The economic advantages of this technology will also be leveraged. In bringing this technology to the Health Sciences Center, we open the door for other hospitals in Manitoba to secure their own PET scanners, with a guaranteed local supply of the isotopes they will need.

The Great-West Life PET/CT Centre at the Health Sciences Centre will positively impact the diagnosis and treatment of our patients. Access to a variety of isotopes will encourage increased innovation. Attracting and retaining clinicians and scientists will mean our already world-class nuclear medicine program will grow.