Part 3/8:
Before FDG can be used in a scan, it undergoes an intricate production process that commences within a particle accelerator known as a cyclotron. Located within a hospital bunker, the cyclotron propels charged particles such as protons at remarkably high speeds along a spiraling path. When these protons collide with a target containing oxygen-18—a heavier form of oxygen—it triggers a reaction that transforms the oxygen into fluorine-18, the radioactive isotope sought after for PET imaging.