Niobium sputtered Havar foils for the high-power production of reactive [F-18]fluoride by proton irradiation of [O-18]H2O targets

摘要

Niobium sputtered Havar entrance foils were used for the production of reactive [F-18]fluoride by proton irradiation of [O-18]H2O targets under pressurized conditions. The synthesis yield in the routine production of 2-[F-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-glucose (FDG) was used as an indicative parameter of the reactivity of 18F. The yield of FDG obtained with F-18 produced in a target with Havar foil was used its a baseline. No statistically significant difference was found in the saturated yields of 18F when using Havar or Havar-Nb sputtered entrance foils. However, the amount of long-lived radionuclidic impurities decreased more than 10-fold using the Havar-Nb entrance foil. The average decay corrected synthesis yield of FDG, evaluated over a period of more than 2 years, was found to be similar to 5% higher when using a Havar-Nb entrance foil and it marked improvement on the FDG yield consistency was noted. In addition, the frequency of target rebuilding was greatly diminished when using the Nb sputtered entrance foil. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.