The big leap to the medical imaging revolution

The French Polynesia Hospital Center (CHPF) has equipped its very first TEP-SCAN, an advanced nuclear imaging tool dedicated to the diagnosis of cancer. In the background: better medical autonomy, more targeted care of patients, and substantial economies on the scale, to come, for the health system. But to release all its potential, the Fenua will still have to take a step: to have a cyclotron, because for the moment, only the management of prostate cancer will be improved.
It has been expected since 2017, it was inaugurated with great fanfare. Inside, a brand new room, now welcomes the very first positons emission – better known as TEP -Scan – installed in Fenua. For cancer patients, this is a small revolution. Until now, metabolic imaging has been accessible only via a health evacuation to the metropolis or the foreigner. From now on, the exam will be practiced directly at the TAAone.
An advance made possible thanks to an investment of nearly 340 million francs, including 250 million for the purchase of the equipment and 90 million devoted to the development of the site. A substantial financial effort, but commensurate with the expected impact on patient care.
Technology at the service of oncological diagnosis
The principle of TEP-SCAN is based on the injection of a radioactive tracer that targets tumor cells. Thanks to this tool, metastases, even microscopic, can be detected with unequaled precision. The examination lasts about fifteen minutes, is completely painless, and offers medical teams a fine cartography of the disease.
“We were able to detect extremely small lesions, just a few millimeters. This machine has an extreme sensitivity and makes it possible to have great precocity in the diagnosis. (…) Before we had to look for a long time, do several radiological examinations and MRI without finding anything. We can also find the cases of recurrences ”explains DR in nuclear medicine Olivier Couturier.
The missing link: a cyclotron
But behind the euphoria of the inauguration, a limit persists. For the moment, the CHPF can only produce gallium, the product necessary to mark cancer molecules in the prostate. For the rest of the body, doctors will need fluorine. Problem, it is impossible to import them, due to the too short lifespan (12 hours) of these isotopes.
The solution is in one word: cyclotron. This particle mini-accelerator would make it possible to produce the necessary isotopes locally. In short, the arrival of this device would complete the chain and give Polynesia an unprecedented diagnostic autonomy in the island Pacific. “Having a cyclotron is major. But it must be coupled with the TEP-Scan. We need to be the same service to be able to study all cancers ”explains Julien Reichart, also a doctor in nuclear medicine at the ICPF.
A lever for savings for the health system
If TEP-SCAN is a technological advance, it also represents, ultimately, an important source of scale economies for the Polynesian health system. Each year, several hundred, even thousands of patients, so far had to be evacuated to distant technical platforms to benefit from this exam. An estimated cost of several million francs per patient, between the plane ticket, accommodation, medical support, hospital logistics and care.
Now carried out locally, the exam may be prescribed earlier, facilitating rapid diagnosis and better targeted treatments. Result: a reduction in hospital times, a lower use of heavy or useless protocols, and a significant drop in redundant examinations.
“It’s not just a comfort gain for patients. It is also an optimization of medical, human and financial resources. Nuclear medicine is a revolution in medical imaging. Because we are able to diagnose very too much and therefore to orient treatments, surgery … so we limit radios and MRIs but also rescue at hospital that we pass when we look for a disease. All this makes money ”, Explique Julien Reichart.