Production of curie quantities of ⁶⁸Ga with a medical cyclotron via the ⁶⁸Zn(p,n)⁶⁸Ga reaction

PET imaging with ⁶⁸Ga-labeled tracers has seen a dramatic increase over the past five years primarily due to the increased accessibility of ⁶⁸Ge/⁶⁸Ga generators, the availability of tracers with superb targeting properties for labeling, straightforward labeling procedures and the approval of these tracers by regulatory entities. Available ⁶⁸Ge/⁶⁸Ga generators nominally deliver up to 1.85 GBq (50 mCi) when fresh limiting production and distribution of ⁶⁸Ga-labeled tracers to a few daily doses per generator. The focus of this study was to provide a simple and efficient method for ⁶⁸Ga production in clinically relevant quantities using a low energy medical cyclotron with a solid target.