Targetry Developments for 44Sc Production Using Enriched CaO
Nicholas van der Meulen, Roger Hasler, Christiaan Vermeulen, Tommaso Carzaniga, Saverio Braccini
Paul Scherrer Institute; University of Bern
Oral Presentation
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The favourable decay properties of 44Sc for cancer diagnosis using Positron Emission Tomography (PET) makes it a promising candidate for future application in nuclear medicine. While the production and application of 44Sc has been comprehensively investigated, targetry optimization for this nuclear reaction has been lacking.
Optimized targets are a crucial issue for obtaining the required quantity and quality for clinical applications. Since the use of CaCO3 leads to large releases of radioactivity in gas form, with consequent radiation protection and product stability issues, we investigated CaO as a more robust and effective target material.