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Production of no‐carrier‐added 64 Cu from zinc metal irradiated under boron shielding
Author(s) -
Zinn Kurt R.,
Chaudhuri Tandra R.,
Cheng TingPang,
Steven Morris J.,
Meyer Walt A.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19940201)73:3+<774::aid-cncr2820731305>3.0.co;2-l
Subject(s) - zinc , radiochemistry , irradiation , boron , nuclear chemistry , radionuclide , metal , materials science , nuclear medicine , chemistry , metallurgy , medicine , nuclear physics , physics , organic chemistry
Abstract Background . Positron emission tomography offers advantages for radioimmunodiagnosis of cancer but requires radionuclides of appropriate half‐life that have high specific activity and high radio‐purity. This work was designed to develop a viable method to produce and purify 64 Cu, which has high specific activity, for positron emission tomography. Methods . 64 Cu was produced at the University of Missouri Research Reactor by the nuclear reaction, 64 Zn(n,p) 64 Cu. Highly pure zinc metal (99.9999%) was irradiated in a specially designed boron nitride lined container, which minimized thermal neutron reactions during irradiation. A new two‐step procedure was developed to chemically separate the no‐carrier‐added 64 Cu from the zinc metal target. Results . 64 Cu recovery for 24 runs averaged 0.393 (±0.007) mCi per milligram of zinc irradiated. The boron‐lined irradiation container reduced unwanted zinc radionuclides 14.3‐fold. Zinc radionuclides and non‐radioactive zinc were separated successfully from the 64 Cu. The new separation technique was fast (2 hours total time) and highly efficient for removing the zinc. The zinc separation factor for this technique averaged 8.5 × 10 −8 , indicating less than 0.85% of the zinc remained after separation. Thus far, the highest 64 Cu specific activity at end of irradiation was 683 Ci/mg Cu, with an average of 512 Ci/mg Cu for the last six analyzed runs. Conclusion . The boron‐lined irradiation container has sufficient capacity for 75‐fold larger‐sized zinc targets (up to 45 g). The new separation technique was excellent for separating 64 Cu, which appears to be a radionuclide with great potential for positron emission tomography. Cancer 1994; 73:774–8.