AUTHOR=Becker Kaelyn V. , Aluicio-Sarduy Eduardo , Bradshaw Tyler , Hurley Samuel A. , Olson Aeli P. , Barrett Kendall E. , Batterton Jeanine , Ellison Paul A. , Barnhart Todd E. , Pirasteh Ali , Engle Jonathan W. 

TITLE=Cyclotron production of 43Sc and 44gSc from enriched 42CaO, 43CaO, and 44CaO targets

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2023.1167783

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2023.1167783

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=43Sc and 44gSc are both positron-emitting radioisotopes of scandium with suitable half-lives and favorable positron energies for clinical positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Irradiation of isotopically enriched calcium targets has higher cross sections compared to titanium targets and higher radionuclidic purity and cross sections than natural calcium targets for reaction routes possible on small cyclotrons capable of accelerating protons and deuterons. In this work, we investigate the following production routes via proton and deuteron bombardment on CaCO3 and CaO target materials: 42Ca(d,n)43Sc, 43Ca(p,n)43Sc, 43Ca(d,n)44gSc, 44Ca(p,n)44gSc, and 44Ca(p,2n)43Sc. The imaging performance of 43Sc and 44gSc was compared with 18F, 68Ga, and 64Cu on clinical PET/CT scanners.