If technical challenges could be overcome, around 15 cyclotrons could meet the Tc-99m needs of 80 percent of Canada's population, McEwan said.

Nonetheless, a number of scientific hurdles must be cleared before the technology could be adopted on a commercial basis.

"So far the dimensions we have aren't optimal for large productions," Benard observed. "But we can make usable quantities."

Molybdenum is a hard metal to work with, he said, being brittle and requiring extremely high temperatures to melt. To be efficient, it needs to be applied in a thick coat. The researchers are experimenting with ways to increase the thickness, such as delivering the substance with a spray. Investigations are being carried out by several institutions relying on around $1.3 million in grant money from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, according to SNM.

"Canada wants a supply much more reliable than the current supply," Benard said. "They want to diversify the source of isotope production."

Still, generator-supplied material would continue to be necessary for more remote regions, Benard said.

Around 15 cyclotrons are installed, or in the process of being installed, in Canada, the researchers said, although most of these aren't the medium- to high-energy cyclotrons needed to produce large quantities of usable Tc-99m.

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