In late February, the UW Department of Radiology became the first site in the Midwest and second in the nation to administer patient doses of GE HealthCare’s new cardiac PET radiopharmaceutical, Flyrcado (flurpiridaz F 18) injection. Through a long-standing collaboration with GE HealthCare, Nandakumar Menon, MD, from the Department of Radiology and Sarah Thordsen, MD, from the Department of Medicine, introduced the use of the radiotracer that could increase patient access to cardiac stress PET imaging.
Positron emission tomography myocardial perfusion imaging (PET-MPI) is a heart scan that uses a small amount of radioactive material and a special camera to show how well blood flows to the heart muscle, helping physicians detect and diagnose coronary artery disease (CAD), assess heart muscle viability, and guide treatment decisions. In addition to being a noninvasive alternative to coronary angiogram, PET-MPI produces superior image quality, more accurate results, faster scans, and lower radiation exposure compared to single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), another type of MPI.
“PET imaging reveals an organ’s function at the molecular level, providing critical insights that complement clinical information and anatomic imaging for more comprehensive evaluation,” explained Dr. Menon, an assistant professor in the Section of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. “PET MPI combines precision, efficiency, and accuracy – helping us quantify coronary flow like never before, leading to better diagnosis and patient care.”
Although the department conducted 48% more cardiac PET scans in 2024 than in 2023, availability of PET MPI radiotracers poses a challenge to continued growth. Currently, the department primarily uses 13N-Ammonia, which is produced in our Radiopharmaceutical Production Facility. Supporting a wide variety of clinical and research needs limits the facility’s capacity to produce 13N-Ammonia.
Flyrcado could help overcome that challenge. It’s available in ready-to-use unit doses that can be ordered as needed. In addition, the agent’s half-life is significantly longer than existing PET MPI tracers, allowing time to conduct exercise stress tests.
“Humans are constantly in motion,” noted Dr. Thordsen, an associate professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine within the Department of Medicine. “If we only image a body after it’s been still for a long period, we aren’t getting the full picture of how blood flows.”
UW and GE HealthCare colleagues gathered ahead of the first dose to commemorate the innovation.
“Today is a celebration of tradition and partnership,” said Chair Scott Reeder, MD, PhD during the event. “We have a tradition spanning nearly three decades of working with GE HealthCare to advance patient health through imaging innovation. It’s also about the partnerships that make this work possible. That includes the partnership with GE HealthCare and the cross-departmental partnership that Dr. Menon and Dr. Thordsen have formed that led to this important milestone.”
The importance of collaboration was evident during the preparation and administration of the first dose. Dr. Menon and PET/CT Research Program Manager Marne VanderPas met with GE HealthCare regularly to coordinate logistics like the transportation of the radiotracer as well as injection technique.
Once the Flyrcado arrived, VanderPas’s team of PET technologists went into action. Jered Meyer carefully handled the radioactive dose, Trish Tolan prepared the PET/CT scanner, and Riley Diekvoss consulted with the physicians and GE HealthCare scientists on the injection technique.
The team successfully conducted two procedures using Flyrcardo injections and are prepared for future exams.
View photos from the day in the UW Department of Radiology Flickr account.