Theragnostic Cu-64/Cu-67 Radioisotopes Production With RFT-30 Cyclotron

Cu-64 and Cu-67 are theragnostic pair radionuclides with promising application in the nuclear medicine. Cu-64 is PET nuclide for the non-invasive diagnosis and Cu-67 is beta emitter for therapy of various cancers. This study discusses optimization efforts in the production of these radioactive coppers carried out with 30 MeV cyclotron. Optimized conditions include target preparation, chemical separation, and quality control. The production routes of Cu-64 and Cu-67 were studied based on the nuclear reactions of Ni-64(p,n)Cu-64 and Zn-70(p,alpha)Cu-67. The produced Cu-64 and Cu-67 have >99.9% of the radionuclidic purity. The yield at the end of bombardment (EOB) of Cu-64 and Cu-67 is 28.5 MBq/mu Ah and Cu-67 is 0.58 MBq/mu Ah, respectively.