Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in Canada. Unfortunately, there are significant gaps in care including a lack of support in navigating the mental health system.

Cervical dystonia (CD) is a painful, disabling neurological condition involving involuntary contraction of neck muscles that twist/pull the head and is associated with impaired brain sensory-motor processing. Treatment involves injecting botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) every 3-months into the neck muscles causing these movements. There are 3 available BoNT-A formulations; Botox® and Xeomin® are used in our clinic. However, many patients experience short-lasting and sub-optimal effects as patients would prefer shorter injection cycles, which is not recommended in the product monographs.

During a medical imaging exam, patient motion such as breathing, cardiac motion, and random adjustments of the head or body can affect the accuracy of the acquired images. Positron emission tomography (PET) is a powerful medical imaging technology that can detect minute amounts of an injected probe targeting specific tissue processes and diseases. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can acquire anatomical and functional images of the body, including information about patient motion.

Although there are currently suppliers for 89Zr, it is anticipated with its increasing use in PET imaging that additional supply will be required to meet demand. This project seeks to develop a method to make large amounts of 89Zr using a type of particle accelerator called a cyclotron. Our group has previously developed a solid target station to produce a different isotope, which will be adapted to produce 89Zr.

In the present project, we aim to contribute to the investigation of the potential use of botulinum toxin (BoNT-A) injections in the brain for the treatment of PD symptoms in the long-term.