The Oklahoma Clinical P.E.T. Center at Deaconess is a center of excellence for high technology PET imaging used in the early diagnosis of Cancer, Coronary Artery Disease, Alzheimer's (and other dementias), Epilepsy and Parkinson's Disease. The accuracy & reliability of a PET scan is very dependent on the training & experience of the PET physician who interprets these scans. George N. Chacko, M.D., is board certified in Nuclear Medicine and is the most experienced PET physician in the state of Oklahoma. The center has the largest & most comprehensive FDG PET scan database in the state of Oklahoma.                          

The Oklahoma P.E.T. Center is currently located in the Medical Office Building South, Deaconess Hospital, in Oklahoma City. Dr. George Chacko, MD is the Medical Director for the Center. Trained in oncology and nuclear medicine, Dr. Chacko recognized the potential of PET.  He pioneered the introduction of PET in 1998 & opened this center in early 2000 in order to provide state-of-the-art PET imaging diagnostic facilities for Oklahomans. Currently, the PET isotopes necessary to perform these studies are being produced locally at the new Medical Cyclotron facility in northwest Oklahoma City. The state of the art, 4000 sq. ft. facility  located at 8224 Silver Crossing in Oklahoma City, has a RDS Eclipse, 11 MeV, self shielded cyclotron which is one of the safest & most reliable machines in the world. This cyclotron has the capacity of supplying 8 to 10 PET scanners and is thus built to meet the future needs of the Oklahoma PET market. The Oklahoma PET Center in Tulsa, opened in October 2003 at Southland Tower, 4111 S. Darlington, close to 41st & Yale, opposite the Promenade Mall in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Our third facility is The Oklahoma PET Center in Lawton, 5410 S.W. Lana Drive, Lawton, Oklahoma which opened in December 2005. This facility is located by Southwestern Hospital in Lawton.

PET isotopes have extremely short half lives, (the longest is 110 minutes). Although these isotopes are now produced locally, cyclotron or PET scanner malfunction may cause postponement or rescheduling of scans. Some isotopes have an even shorter half life (as little as 10 minutes), limiting their use to the immediate geographic area.

A Medical Cyclotron For Oklahoma

A cyclotron is a particle accelerator that produces short-lived P.E.T. radioisotopes for medical and research use. The RDS Eclipse cyclotron is extremely safe and is a self shielded machine.  There are  over 90 such cyclotrons currently operating in the United States. These isotopes are compounded into radiotracers by an automated chemistry module. The radiotracers are quality assurance tested prior to being administered intravenously and the laboratory will meet all the stringent FDA guidelines for good manufacturing practices (GMP).

The site selected for construction of the medical cyclotron facility is located south of Northwest Expressway, between Rockwell and Council Roads. It is next to the Regional Headquarters of the American Cancer Society in the Silver Springs Crossing development.  Construction of the cyclotron facility was completed in July 2003 and production of PET radiopharmaceuticals started towards the end of August 2003. The facility has been in operation for 3 years and is supplying a number of local PET centers with the PET isotope. It is affiliated with The OU School of Pharmacy and is used as an international training site for siemens cyclotron systems. 

Dr. George N. Chacko, Medical Director for Oklahoma P.E.T. Center is certified by the AMA and the American Board Of Nuclear Medicine.  Prior to his current position, Dr. Chacko has been associated with various health care institutions, both locally and nationally. 

Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Oklahoma City, Service Chief - Nuclear Medicine and Assistant Professor of Radiological Sciences and Nuclear Medicine.

 
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Assistant Professor - Division of Radiological Sciences and Department of Nuclear Medicine.

Children's Hospital of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Assistant Professor of Nuclear Medicine.

Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, Oklahoma City, Nuclear Medicine Specialist. 

St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center, Portland, Oregon, Staff Physician, Nuclear Medicine.

Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center, Downey, California, Research Physician - Department of Cardiology.

The City of Hope, Duarte, California, Research Physician - Department of Radiation Oncology.