Cu-61 production and purification

Cu-61 (T_1/2=3.32 h, E_β+=1.22 MeV 60%) is a positron emitter from the set of medically useful copper radioisotopes. Its nuclear properties and ease of production make it suitable for positron emission tomography imaging. The ⁶⁴Zn (p,α)⁶¹Cu reaction with enriched Zn-64 as target material seems to be more convenient for the routine production of Cu-61 than the ⁶¹Ni(p,n)⁶¹Cu route, due to the higher costs of enriched Ni-61. As reported, the ⁶⁴Zn(p,α)⁶¹Cu reaction delivers adequate yields of Cu-61 in an energy window of 19à10MeV with low contaminants like Cu-60/62 which occur at higher proton energies.
Cu-61 was generated using the ⁶⁴Zn(p,α)⁶¹Cu reaction utilizing 16 MeV. For the purification of Cu-61, a system of cation- and anion-exchange columns was applied which allows recycling of the target material for uncomplicated electro deposition for the next irradiation cycle. The abandonment of heating and drying steps, applying pumps or any pressure to the columns makes this process suitable for remote handling in hot cells and causing fewer sources of contaminants and enables good/reasonable yields. An overview of the key data (yield at EOB and after processing, specific activity and radiochemical purity) will be presented.