Norway blazes new trails in nuclear medicine imaging and diagnostics

For more than 25 years, Norwegian scientists have pioneered the use of nuclear medicine to diagnose and treat various diseases. In particular, Norway has excelled in the field of radiopharmaceuticals, drugs that contain radioactive forms of chemical elements known as radioisotopes, which are used widely in medical imaging.

Moreover, Norwegian companies Nycomed and Vingmed Ultrasound, now part of GE HealthCare, were pioneers in contrast agents and high-resolution cardiovascular imaging. Prior to this, doctors at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology developed the world’s first Pulsed Echo Doppler Flowmeter (PEDOF) in the 1970s, laying the basis for future imaging technology in Norway and around the globe.

Today, Norway has a strong professional nuclear medicine community encompassing a complete value chain from ideas, radiopharmacy and production to preclinical research, clinical research and dosimetry.

The Norwegian division of GE HealthCare, a global medical technology company, has fuelled Norway’s leadership in nuclear medicine imaging and diagnostics. As the largest pharmaceutical company in Norway, GE HealthCare plays a crucial role by covering the entire value chain – from producing cyclotrons and radiopharmaceuticals to developing scanners and software for diagnostics and dosimetry.

In addition, the company invests heavily in research and development. Its R&D team has grown substantially, collaborating with local institutions such as the Norwegian Medical Cyclotron Centre, the University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital. It also contributes to clinical trials at Oslo University Hospital and supports the Norwegian Nuclear Research Centre by hosting master’s degree students.

Internationally, GE HealthCare in Norway has had a longstanding collaboration with Japan on contrast media and radiopharmaceuticals since the 1990s. Moreover, GE HealthCare now owns Nihon Medi-Physics (NMP), a leading radiopharmaceutical company in Japan.

In June, 2025, the Norwegian Embassy and representatives from GE HealthCare Norway visited NMP to explore collaborative opportunities and future projects. The visit was part of broader efforts to strengthen ties between GE HealthCare Norway and NMP, and to showcase the potential for joint innovation in molecular imaging and radiopharmaceuticals.

The company is able to take part in so much collaboration due to its broad expertise in all parts of the value chain. “GE HealthCare takes a comprehensive approach to the medical imaging chain,” says Stavik.

Read the article series on the global reach of Norwegian ultrasound innovation

In this regard, she highlights the company’s cyclotron production, scanners and radioligands, as well as its cutting-edge Fast Lab technology which produces and purifies radioactive compounds with a shelf life of six to 10 hours. Such compounds can be used to detect metastasis in oncology.

The PET scan is the crème de la crème of medical imaging and diagnostics, and Norway has been a leading innovator in its development for many years.

PET stands for positron emission tomography, an imaging test that uses a radioactive drug called a tracer to show both typical and atypical metabolic activity. A PET scan can often detect the atypical metabolism of the tracer in diseases before the disease shows up on other imaging tests, such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

The development of PET scan technology in Norway has always been, and remains, a public-private endeavour.

“In 2004, a special grant from the Norwegian Parliament, along with a cost-sharing arrangement between the Research Council of Norway and Amersham Health/GE HealthCare (then Nycomed) enabled the establishment of the first PET centre in Norway at the Rikshospitalet-Radiumhospitalet (now a part of Oslo University Hospital),” explains Mona-Elisabeth Rootwelt-Revheim, Head of The Intervention Centre and Professor at Oslo University Hospital.

Moreover, private investment in PET technology continues to grow, from global heavyweights such as Bayer, GE HealthCare and PharmaLogic, which has just acquired the Norwegian radiopharmaceuticals CDMO Agilera, to individuals such as Trond Moen, a Norwegian private investor who has donated billions of kroner to establish PET facilities and support research projects around the country.

Another long-time contributor to PET scan development is the Norwegian Medical Cyclotron Centre, which is the only commercial supplier of PET tracers in Norway and has been supplying PET tracers all over the southern part of Norway for more than 20 years in collaboration with GE HealthCare.

“The Cyclotron Centre is always supportive and takes part in several partnerships in research-driven innovations,” says Rootwelt-Revheim.

Founded in 2006, the Cyclotron Centre became the contract manufacturer of radioisotopes for GE HealthCare in 2017. Now the two companies work closely together, developing new tracers for use in PET scan technology and the like.

He explains that the centre has seen double-digit growth since its inception, resulting in a huge expansion of the facility that will triple the company’s impact, including the installation of a second cyclotron and two new clean rooms.

“The expansion supports our portfolio as well as GE HealthCare’s as we both need more capacity,” he says.

Beyond the development and production of tracers, the centre helps to provide PET scanners wherever they are needed. In particular, the centre’s collaboration with Alliance Medical has resulted in the installation of mobile and modular PET units in regional hospitals.

In addition, the centre has established the Oslo Imaging and Therapy Lab (OITL), a multidisciplinary CRO specialising in radiopharmaceutical development. OITL provides an integrated research platform that bridges preclinical development and clinical applications, enabling improved diagnostics and targeted treatment.

The depth and breadth of Norway’s nuclear medicine environment continually drives new innovation. One such area is theranostics, a fascinating new field involving targeted therapy based on the identification and verification of a biological target using PET technology.

“Oslo University Hospital is a driving force behind this important work, which promises to improve precision cancer treatment,” states Rootwelt-Revheim.

The Norwegian Medical Cyclotron Centre, meanwhile, is involved in a project to establish a facility in Norway for large-scale enrichment of stable isotopes that can be irradiated by different types of particle accelerators to yield several important radioactive medical isotopes for theranostic use and which are currently in short supply globally.

This development will bring about several new collaboration opportunities with the pharmaceutical diagnostics unit, but also with the cyclotron manufacturing unit in Sweden.