Nuclear analytical chemistry in the development of accelerator radionuclides for medical applications

Radionuclides find application in many fields. However, their major use is in medicine, both for diagnosis and therapy. For diagnostic studies, short-lived γ-ray emitters (with a single or at least a dominant γ-ray of energy between 70 and 250 keV) and positron emitters are commonly used, the former finding application in Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) and the latter in Positron Emission Tomography (PET). In contrast, radionuclides emitting corpuscular radiation (α- or β- particles, conversion or Auger electrons) are used in internal radiotherapy. The production of medical radionuclides is carried out using both nuclear reactors and accelerators. The scope of this presentation is limited to accelerator production of radionuclides, with special consideration of the nuclear analytical chemistry involved