Medicine intended Technetium 99mTc isotope production technology under C18 cyclotron beam

International Conference on Nuclear Medicine & Radiation Therapy

July 14-15, 2016 Cologne, Germany

Albert Avetisyan

A I Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory, Armenia

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Nucl Med Radiat Ther

Abstract :

The isotope 99mTc has broad application in nuclear medicine for diagnostic purposes. Due to its short life time of about 6h favoring low radiation dose for the patient, high demands are put on the infrastructure for production and distribution of the isotopes involved. Currently, this isotope is produced by a couple of fission reactors in the world which are ageing machines without guaranteed uptime. This is a dangerous situation for the supply-chain and thus numerous scientists work on alternatives. In addition, these fission reactors are operated with weapons-grade Uranium-235 a fact that should be avoided for numerous reasons. The proposal to produce 99mTc using cyclotron accelerators generating a proton beam of that impinges on a molybdenum target (100Mo) is one the promising solutions. It can ensure the local supply of technetium and reduces nuclear proliferation since no uranium is needed. Last decade many scientific centers are working hard to find alternative technologies of Mo/Tc production, in particular using charged particles accelerators. In general the focus is on the direct production of 99mTc from proton bombardment of enriched molybdenum and although other accelerator based technologies are feasible. Usable quantities of 99mTc can be produced by the 100Mo (p, 2n) 99mTc reaction, well within the reach of many commercial medical cyclotrons. Many hundreds of cyclotrons are working around the world for PET isotope production, and they can produce 99mTc in parallel without serious investment. This technology is close to create full scale domestic production covering whole demand of clinics.

Biography :

Email: albert@mail.yerphi.am