Simulations in production of ⁴⁴Sc - the first in India

⁴⁴Sc is of great interest as PET radionuclide due to its suitable nuclear decay characteristics (Eβ⁺av = 632 keV, T_1/2 = 4.04 h, Eγ = 1157 keV, I = 100%) makes it a promising candidate for cancer diagnosis in nuclear medicine. Due to its longer half-life in comparison to ⁶⁸Ga, it is desirable for imaging with radiopharmaceuticals with a longer biological half-life and also can be imaged at later time points for good image quality. The most common route for its production is cyclotron, which is milestone in the production of this radionuclide, using either natural or enriched calcium as a target. Due to high cost of enriched ⁴⁴Ca and experimental production, it is important to simulate the production process in order to find a cost-effective method and high purity production of ⁴⁴Sc using Medical Cyclotron with solid target proton beam extension. Predictive tools for calculating radionuclidic yield could help in reducing the cost of production. So, Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations were utilized to establish the model INMAS-PET trace (GE Healthcare,16.5 MeV) medical cyclotron to optimize the target ^natCa and enriched ⁴⁴Ca and other irradiation parameters for efficient production of high purity ⁴⁴Sc radioisotope. Thick target Saturation Yield of ⁴⁴Sc were also calculated for both ^natCa and ⁴⁴Ca targets, along with the yields of significant radioactive contaminants to attain a high yield of ⁴⁴Sc. The results are in good agreement with the IAEA and reported data, thus confirming the usefulness and accuracy of Geant4 MC as a tool for the optimization of other radionuclides production