Investigation of production of medical 82Sr and 68Ge for 82Sr/82Rb and 68Ge/68Ga generators via proton accelerator

How to operate 82Sr/82Rb and 68Ge/68Ga generators used in the positron emission tomography scan process is explained, and the importance of 82Sr and 68Ge radionuclides for these generators is revealed. To produce medical 82Sr and 68Ge by means of a proton accelerator in an irradiation time of 24 h, a proton beam current of 250 µA, and an energy range Eproton = 100 › 5 MeV, the cross sections and the neutron emission spectrum curves of (p,xn) reaction processes on Rb-85, Ga-69 and Ga-71 targets were calculated, and the activities and yields of the product were simulated for the reaction processes. Additionally, the integral yields of the reaction processes were determined via the calculated cross-sectional curves and the mass stopping power obtained from the X-PMSP program. Furthermore, based on the obtained results, the appropriate reaction processes for the production of 82Sr and 68Ge isotopes on Rb-85, Ga-69, and Ga-71 targets are discussed. © 2018, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Nuclear Society, Science Press China and Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd