Evidence of meeting #39 for Natural Resources in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was binder.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Mike Allen Conservative Tobique—Mactaquac, NB
Okay. What is driving this change, whereby the majority of it is PET-related, here in Canada?
Director, TRIUMF
It's a good question.
PET, if we call it a modality, is a more modern modality. It has better resolution, better precision. It has, I would say, taken off in the cancer world, and it's becoming very popular for cancer screening. It has the potential of new molecules being developed for targeting specific metabolic activity in your body, so it has received a lot of research interest. All of the major medical centres have them now. The growth in the last few years in the U.S. has been very big.
Conservative
Mike Allen Conservative Tobique—Mactaquac, NB
You said that in Canada there are 10,000 procedures per day?
Director, TRIUMF
Yes. The estimate was that there were about 900 cameras and maybe eight treatments per day per camera, so I was rounding it up for you.
Conservative
Mike Allen Conservative Tobique—Mactaquac, NB
All right. Do you see a similar trend to this happening in Canada? Is it more expensive?
Director, TRIUMF
For PET to take off, first of all you need access to the isotopes that are made by cyclotrons. So you have to make the investment for cyclotrons, and that's not going to be made in every hospital. Every hospital can afford a SPECT. The SPECT camera is fairly small and fairly straightforward. At the moment, PET hasn't gone into what I would call mass production mode. Cyclotrons are not in mass production, although there are quite a few around the world, as you can see.
Until the market pressure gives you a PET scanner that's cheaper and cyclotrons that are cheaper and easier to handle—you don't need a large technical staff to look after them—that transition will move along, but it's not going to take off. I would have said that if you looked at the field ten years from now it might be very different. That's my guess.
Conservative
Mike Allen Conservative Tobique—Mactaquac, NB
Who are the key players in supplying that equipment? As you say, it's not mass-produced or anything like that. Who are the suppliers?
Director, TRIUMF
There are a number of major companies that make cyclotrons now. IBA is probably the largest company; it's a Belgian company. GE Healthcare makes cyclotrons; there's a Japanese company that makes them; there's a Canadian company that makes cyclotrons in Vancouver, Ebco . So it's a pretty healthy business, I would say. As for PET scanners, there are again a number of companies around the world that make PET scanners too.
Conservative
Mike Allen Conservative Tobique—Mactaquac, NB
You mentioned ten years. Do you believe the market's going to drive us more toward that kind of technology?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Leon Benoit
Thank you, Mr. Allen.
Is there anyone else from the Conservative Party?
Okay. We'll go, then, just for a short question, to Ms. Bell, and then to any Liberal who would like ask questions, if there is anyone.
Ms. Bell, go ahead.
NDP
Catherine Bell NDP Vancouver Island North, BC
Thank you.
Just following up on Mr. Allen's line of questioning, which is where I wanted to go, is it wise, then, given the change in technology and the change we're going to see in the future, to be building the old-style reactors, the old technology, and investing all that money, when we can see that the market is changing and the usage is changing?
Director, TRIUMF
I think that may be the question you have to decide. I'm somewhat biased towards PET—I might as well just tell you that—so I think the answer is I that see it as where the field is going. It's a question of how big it becomes and whether it really replaces SPECT, because SPECT, as I said, can be in every hospital. It's in every operating room. It's very prevalent. So the question is, what will be the demand for it?
My suspicion is that it is not a growing demand, that at best it's a flat demand. Then the question will be whether it rolls off. I just don't know enough to be able to answer that question.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Leon Benoit
Thank you, Ms. Bell.
Are there any further questions?
Seeing none, thank you very much for coming today, Dr. Lockyer. We do appreciate that and the very interesting information you have given us. It will be helpful to us. Thank you very much.
I've been given notice of the motion, which we will get to in a minute, but Mr. Anderson had indicated he has something he'd like to ask the committee about.
Conservative
David Anderson Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK
Mr. Chair, I talked to some of the committee members, and I think we may have agreement here. I'd like to invite the committee to a reception from 11:30 to 1:00 in my office on Thursday in lieu of a meeting. I talked to the critics. They seemed to be okay with that, so I just wanted to check and make sure the committee was in favour of that. I think we have one witness or whatever, so that would mean cancelling that as well. It is whatever the committee decides here. I think we had some agreement. I just wanted to make sure.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Leon Benoit
I will just put it to the committee. Is there agreement to that?
Mr. St. Amand.
Liberal
Lloyd St. Amand Liberal Brant, ON
I can't recall the name of the witness or from what distance he or she was coming.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Leon Benoit
The one thing about the witness, of course, is it seems somewhat uncertain that the House will be sitting on Thursday, in which case the witness would be cancelled. It may not be as serious a consideration as otherwise might be.
The Clerk of the Committee Mr. Chad Mariage
Mr. Chair, the witness was Daniel Rozon, from École polytechnique in Montreal. So he's coming from Montreal.