In this ExpoSpain presentation, Mario Sebok of Cyclomed outlines the critical challenge facing PET and SPECT imaging: the reliance on short‑lived radioisotopes that must be imported from large, centralized production facilities because their half‑lives range from minutes to hours. Cyclomed proposes a compact superconducting cyclotron that can be installed directly in hospitals or research centers, enabling on‑site, on‑demand production of a variety of isotopes. The device’s key differentiator is its superconducting magnetic system, which operates at ultra‑low temperatures (5‑6 K, –269 °C) thanks to a proprietary cryogenic subsystem. The presentation details the cyclotron’s subsystems—including a novel ion source under joint IP development with General Electric and the Antamatina European project— and reports that design and manufacturing were completed by 2019, with independent subsystem testing successful and a record low temperature achieved. Funding from Spain’s CDTI has supported the final integration phase, and the team expects to begin isotope production within the next month. Cyclomed also highlights strategic collaborations: a license for advanced high‑temperature superconductor technology with a U.S. company, joint work on superconducting magnetic storage with CEMAC, and broader market potential in both health and renewable‑energy sectors. The pitch concludes with a call for business partners to scale commercialization and an invitation to engage in further R&D projects that leverage Cyclomed’s technology for societal benefit.
Chapters
being developed within Cyclomed. It is a device to produce these radioisotopes for medical imaging technologies, for PET and SPECT. What is the current situation now? So currently hospitals need to import these radioisotopes from production centers, which are fusion reactors or big particle accelerators. What is the current market for PET and SPECT? What is the problem with it? Radioisotopes decay within time, and the radioisotopes used in PET have short lives and they decay within minutes. They have half-lives of minutes, between minutes and hours. So what we developed here is a particle accelerator that is compact enough to be installed directly in a hospital, allowing it to produce the radioisotope study. So again, we are developing this superconducting, or this compact cyclotron, which is a particle accelerator, to allow hospitals, research centers to self-supply their demand of radioisotopes. What is different about our product is its capacity, and we achieve it with superconductivity. Which is one of the main lines of investigations at the MIT. We provide value to our customers through the reduction of the civil works necessary for the installation of this equipment, which is the same reduction in capital cost. We provide value with the reduction of the operating cost thanks to the possibility to produce on demand. We allow to have a variety of radioisotopes to be produced and used in hospitals and research centers, and we allow the possibility to exploit these short-lived radioisotopes. Well, this is some more technical slides. At the left, we have some of the features of the particle accelerator. I mentioned the Energy, the current. And on the other side, we have some of the subsystems that are key for the particle accelerator. Let me highlight here what makes our product different, which is the magnetic system, which is what has superconducting magnets, and it was— it made it compact enough to be installed directly in hospitals. To operate a superconducting magnet, you need to go to really low temperatures. 5 to 6 Kelvin. In our case, which in Celsius is -269 degrees Celsius, for which we have a specific, uh, own developing collaboration with third, uh, cryogenic system. Okay, so let me update about the status of the project. By 2019, when the company was created, we finished, uh, the design and manufacturing phase, and we were advancing through the testing phase. Last year, we obtained some funding from CDTI to help and to finish the development of this shredder and try to be producing polyisotopes within the next 12 months. The project lasts 2 years. During the first year, we successfully tested all the subsystems independently. We achieved the our own record low temperature of -269 degrees, and we are currently in the validation of all the subsystems working together, and we are hoping to be producing many isotopes within the next month. Within the same project, we committed to the exploration of the interest, of the market interest, of the subsystems that make up the cyclotron, and we have found it. What are the Especially among the superconducting system and what is called the high temperatures. Superconductivity has a lot of potential applications. Amongst among, I would like to highlight those in the health and energy sector. Within the energy sector, we have established good relationships with an American company. We have the license of the most advanced high temperature superconductor, and we are currently helping them and using our technology. To help them develop their superconducting magnetic storage device, we also share the idea with CEMAC of another superconducting generator which can be used for renewables. And we have a lot of potential to use in the in the health sector. On the other hand, we have the ion source, which is a small device that produces the particles or the ions to the accelerator. And we have also a novel a novel ion source with We have the IP, which we are currently developing with General Electric and Antimatina European project. So what are the next steps for our journey? On one hand, we are finishing the product development of the cyclotron. We are looking here for business partners in order to create alliances to help us to scale and to commercialize our product. On the other hand, we found research and development a key part of our identity. And we are always actively looking for projects that, that where we could leverage our technology and we can further improve society. So thank you everyone.
