Determination of 68Ga production parameters by different reactions using ALICE and TALYS codes

Abstract

Gallium-68 (T 1/2 = 68 min, I β+ = 89%) is an important positron-emitting radionuclide for positron emission tomography and used in nuclear medicine for diagnosing tumours. This study gives a suitable reaction to produce 68 Ga. Gallium-68 excitation function via 68 Zn(p, n) 68 Ga, 68 Zn(d, 2n) 68 Ga, 70 Zn(p, 3n) 68 Ga and 65 Cu(α, n) 68 Ga reactions were calculated by ALICE-91 and TALYS-1.0 codes. The calculated excitation function of 68 Zn(p, n) 68 Ga reaction was compared with the reported measurement and evaluations. Requisite thickness of the targets was obtained by SRIM code for each reaction. The 68 Ga production yield was evaluated using excitation function and stopping power.

Cyclotron Production of PET Radiometals in Liquid Targets: Aspects and Prospects

“…Need based availability of PET radionuclides is a standard norm in routine nuclear medicine practice, thus use of a cyclotron to produce 68 Ga becomes apparent. Application of a cyclotron to produce 68 Ga was first demonstrated by Sadeghi et al in 2009 using a solid 68 Zn target [ 67 , 68 ]. In 2011, Jensen et al preliminarily reported a liquid target approach to produce 68 Ga on a cyclotron using an aqueous solution of [ 68 Zn]ZnCl 2.…”

Radiolabelled Peptides: Optimal Candidates for Theranostic Application in Oncology

“…Recent developments have led to cyclotron production of Ga-68 using either liquid targets (comprising a [ 68 Zn]Zn(NO 3 ) 2 solution) [133] or solid targets (highly enriched metallic zinc-68, usually electroplated onto discs made of pure copper or silver). [134] Irradiation of a liquid target can afford between 2-10 GBq of activity after 1 h of bombardment, [133,[135][136][137] while solid targets can generate multi-curies of activity (up to ,370 GBq) in a period of 1-2 h. [138,139] While these methods don't require build-up time between runs, both necessitate purification of the resulting Ga-68 before clinical use. [135,139] Moreover, the 68 min half-life [130] of Ga-68 inhibits transportation to distant sites, thereby limiting the availability of Ga-68 labelled theranostics to local hospitals or those with in-house production capacity.…”

Radiochemistry

“…Excitation functions for the production of gallium-68 from the [Zn 68 (p,n)Ga 68 ], [Zn 68 (d,2n)Ga 68 ], [Zn 70 (p,3n)Ga 68 ] and [Cu 65 (a,n)Ga 68 ] nuclear reactions have been calculated 38 using ALICE-91 and TALYS-1.0 computer codes. Such calculations are very necessary since many gallium radioisotopes result 39 from the irradiation of zinc metal.…”

“…Such calculations are very necessary since many gallium radioisotopes result 39 from the irradiation of zinc metal. Chromatographic methods have been described 40,41 for the extraction of the gallium-68 that results from the proton irradiation of zinc-68. Positron emitting isotopes of bromine, Br-75 and Br-76 can be made 42 by the proton bombardment of isotopes of selenium and calculations of the optimum beam energies for their production have been made.…”

“…Much attention is being paid to the measurement of the radiation dose received by cyclotron 345 and linear accelerator [346][347][348] personnel in nuclear medicine and similar facilities. Included in this dose should be that due to adventitious reactions such as that arising 349 from the neutron irradiation (from reactions such as [O [18] (p,n)F 18 ]) of air-born argon, [Ar 40 (n,g)Ar 41 ]. It is also important to consider the doses received by medical staff 350 when handling or being near the high energy sources 351 used in some procedures.…”