Utilization of (p, 4n) reaction for 86Zr production with medium energy protons and development of a 86Zr → 86Y radionuclide generator

Utilization of (p, 4n) reaction channel for the production of medical radionuclides became very attractive with commercial availability of medium energy cyclotrons. Significantly higher yields and radionuclidic purity may open new perspectives for several novel and some of the radionuclides previously have not been considered due to production difficulties. In present work, we show the proof-of-principle study on the production of Y-86 for Positron Emission Tomography imaging via radionuclide generator Zr-86 -> Y-86. Production suitability of Zr-86 from natural yttrium target and radiochemical separation strategies were tested. In addition, two generator systems were proposed and evaluated.