Production of cobalt-55, a short-lived, positron emitting radiolabel for bleomycin

The production and radiochemical separation of 55Co from deuteron irradiation of enriched 54Fe target is described. Methods used for the recovery and reuse of the target material (54Fe) are also described. The yield of 55Co at 12 MeV incident deuteron energy is 1.7 mCi per mu Ah at end of bombardment and the contamination with 57Co is 0.016%. The 55Co produced is chelated to bleomycin and used for tumour imaging with a positron emission tomographic camera based on multi-wire proportional chamber detectors.