Ion Beam Applications SA announced that the Cyclone 70 system installed at the iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences (iThemba LABS) in Cape Town, one of the research facilities of the National Research Foundation of South Africa, has been fully commissioned enabling iThemba LABS to start transferring the production of radioisotopes from their existing accelerator to the new Cyclone 70 system. Acceptance testing was completed in December 2023, with the cyclotron reaching full beam power (750µA) at full energy. This 70 MeV cyclotron will be dedicated to the production of next-generation medical isotopes used mainly in the diagnosis of critical illnesses.

The machine will be used primarily for the manufacture of Strontium-82 for use in the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, as well as for production of Germanium-68 for use in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging.