Production of (117m)Sn with high specific activity by cyclotron

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Chemistry
• Radiochemistry
• Medical Isotope Production

Background:

• Accelerator production of radionuclides is crucial for medical imaging and therapy.
• Efficient separation and purification methods are essential for producing high-quality medical isotopes.
• Tin-117m (117mSn) is a promising radionuclide for targeted radiotherapy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a novel accelerator production route for the tin-117m radionuclide.
• To develop and optimize a separation method for tin-117m from cadmium.
• To determine the production yield and specific activity of tin-117m under specific irradiation conditions.

Main Methods:

• Irradiation of natural and enriched Cadmium-116 (116Cd) targets with alpha particles (Eα=35 MeV).
• Development of a separation technique using anion-exchange resin (Dowex-1×8, fluorine form, 400 mesh).
• Determination of specific activities and thick target yields for the 116Cd(α,3n)117mSn reaction.

Main Results:

• Production yields of 37.5 kBq/μAh (natural CdO) and 410 kBq/μAh (95% enriched 116CdO) were estimated.
• Radiochemical yield of 98% for 117mSn separation was achieved.
• Radionuclidic purity exceeded 99% with a specific activity of 2.4 GBq/mg.

Conclusions:

• The proposed accelerator production route and anion-exchange separation method are effective for producing high-purity 117mSn.
• The achieved yields and purity levels are suitable for potential clinical applications of 117mSn.
• This work contributes to the advancement of medical isotope production through accelerator-based methods.