Production of radionuclides with a cyclotron

The production of radioisotopes for use in biomedical procedures such as diagnostic imaging and/or therapeutic treatments may be achieved through nuclear reactions from charged particle bombardment using an accelerator. The goal is to get the target material into the beam, keep it there during the irradiation and then remove the product radionuclide from the target material efficiently and quickly. The specific design of the cyclotron target is what allows one to achieve this goal. For every radionuclide, there are usually nearly as many target designs as there are people producing the isotope. The design and use of cyclotron targets can be a very complex problem and involves the use of physics, chemistry and engineering in order to produce a target which is reliable and efficient. This paper addresses how basic principles of physics, engineering and chemistry apply to radionuclide production with an accelerator. The concept of power density applied to cyclotron targets, various means of heat removal from the target, and the efficient extraction and separation of the desired product radionuclide from both the target material and the other radioisotopes present is discussed. (author)