Preparation of Cu-64 on a Domestic 14.6 MeV Medical Cyclotron

Copper-64 (⁶⁴Cu, T_1/2=12.7 h) is a medical radionuclide with a moderate half-life that is commonly employed in positron emission tomography imaging. Additionally, it can pair with ⁶⁷Cu to form a theranostic radionuclide pair for targeted radionuclide therapy in nuclear medicine. The research employed a domestic 14.6 MeV cyclotron to produce ⁶⁴Cu via the ⁶⁴Ni(p,n)⁶⁴Cu. The design of the electroplated target and energy degrader were optimized through computational simulations. The material selected for the energy degrader was graphite, due to its high thermal conductivity. Utilizing a proton of 10.4→8.7 MeV, ⁶⁴Cu was produced without the unintended impurity ⁶³Cu occurring. After a one-hour bombardment, with a beam current of 50 μA, 5.22 GBq ⁶⁴Cu was obtained (decay-corrected to end of bombardment). Employing an anion exchange method to purify ⁶⁴Cu, a molar activity greater than 5 GBq/nmol and a radionuclidic purity of 99.90% was obtained. This study presented a technique for enhancing simulations by considering real operational conditions in order to enhance the utilization of ⁶⁴Ni, minimize the presence of ⁶³Cu impurities, and achieve ⁶⁴Cu radionuclide. It serves as a guide for producing other possible medical radionuclides and for producing ⁶⁴Cu at different facilities.