The Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences is the leading institute in the research of radiological medicine in Korea. Our institute possesses a cyclotron for the study the research , development and production of radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals, and supplies them to medical organizations.
Radiopharmaceuticals are used for early detection of cancer, detection of refractory diseases, and for radioimmunoassay to treat cancer. Representative radiopharmaceuticals include 18FDG (18FluoroDeoxyGlucose) etc., used for early detection of cancer with positron emitting radionuclide 18-fluoride labeled for use in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans , and 201T1 for use in Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) scans, 123I labeled radiopharmaceuticals, etc.

Our institute operates Cyclone-30 (product of Ion Beam Application, Belgium) and MC-50 (product of Scanditronix, Sweden) cyclotrons. Cyclotron is a type of accelerator used for accelerating particles with uniform magnetic and electric fields. It produces radioisotopes by accelerating particles to a high energy state, irradiating them at a target substance, and creating a nuclear reaction. Our institute installed first MC-50 accelerator in Korea in 1986, and is the first institute in Korea to have succeeded in research and development of 20 types of accelerator radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals such as 67Ga, 123I, 201T1, 111In etc., Since then, and we have been routinely producing and providing them to the medical organizations within the country.

There are 39 cyclotrons currently in operation in Korea, but most are low-energy and installed in hospitals for use with only PET scans. Our institute has the only medium-energy accelerator with a capacity exceeding 30MeV, and serves as the hub of Korean radiological medicine research, including radioisotope production technology, accelerator development and management techniques, Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator technology--a cutting edge technology, and platform businesses for the development of advanced treatment techniques using radioisotopes.