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Design and evaluation of an external high‐current target for production of 211 At
Author(s) -
Gag K.,
Risler R.,
Pal S.,
Hamlin D.,
Orzechowski J.,
Pavan R.,
Zeisler S.,
Wilbur D. S.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of labelled compounds and radiopharmaceuticals
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.432
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1099-1344
pISSN - 0362-4803
DOI - 10.1002/jlcr.2968
Subject(s) - cyclotron , irradiation , chemistry , radiochemistry , neutron , range (aeronautics) , nuclear engineering , nuclear medicine , nuclear physics , physics , materials science , ion , medicine , organic chemistry , engineering , composite material
This report presents the design and testing of an external target system for clinical‐scale production of 211 At on the Scanditronix MC‐50 cyclotron at the University of Washington Medical Center. While other 211 At production sites have typically employed an internal target, an external target setup was deemed necessary at our facility since the cyclotron's main application is for cancer patient treatment via fast neutron therapy. The challenge was that previous external 211 At targets demonstrated reduced yields when compared to internal target systems. The target developed in this study has been used in more than 100 irradiations. From those irradiations 211 At saturated yields of 181 ± 16 MBq/μA and 241 ± 17 MBq/μA at 28.0 and 29.0 MeV, respectively, were obtained. Importantly, consistent yields were observed over the 25–60 μA range of irradiation currents evaluated. With a recent production in excess of 4 GBq 211 At for a 29.0 MeV, 58 μA, 4‐hour irradiation, this external target system has demonstrated its potential for producing clinically relevant quantities of 211 At.