Optimization of Deuteron Irradiation of <sup>176</sup>Yb for Producing <sup>177</sup>Lu of High Specific Activity Exceeding 3000 GBq/mg

oleh: Lin Shao

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2023-08-01

Deskripsi

The irradiation of <sup>176</sup>Yb with deuterons offers a promising pathway for the production of the theranostic radionuclide <sup>177</sup>Lu. To optimize this process, calculations integrating deuteron transport, isotope production, and decay have been performed. In pure <sup>176</sup>Yb, the undesired production of <sup>174g+m</sup>Lu occurs at higher deuteron energies, corresponding to a distribution slightly shallower than that of <sup>177</sup>Lu. Hence, <sup>174g+m</sup>Lu can be effectively filtered out by employing either a low-energy deuteron beam or stacked foils. The utilization of stacked foils enables the production of <sup>177</sup>Lu using a high-energy linear accelerator. Another unwanted isotope, <sup>176m</sup>Lu, is produced roughly at the same depth as <sup>177</sup>Lu, but its concentration can be significantly reduced by selecting an appropriate post-irradiation processing time, owing to its relatively short half-life. The modeling approach extended to the mapping of yields as a function of irradiation time and post-irradiation processing time. An optimized processing time window was identified. The study demonstrates that a high-energy deuteron beam can be employed to produce <sup>177</sup>Lu with high specific activity exceeding 3000 GBq/mg. The effect of different purity levels (ranging from 98% to 100%) was also discussed. The impurity levels have a slight impact. The modeling demonstrates the feasibility of obtaining <sup>177</sup>Lu with a specific activity > 3000 GBq/mg and radionuclidic purity > 99.5% when using a commercially available <sup>176</sup>Yb target of 99.6% purity.