Radionuclides for PET imaging are often produced in the vicinity of the hospitals, for example with the aid of cyclotron production devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,433,495 describes the design of a target to be irradiated, which is used in a cyclotron for producing radionuclides for PET imaging.
WO 2006/074960 describes a method for producing radioactive isotopes which are made by irradiation by a particle beam.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,130,926 discloses a method for producing radionuclides with the aid of a cyclotron and a target design with rotating films.
JP 1254900 (A) describes a method in which a charged particle beam irradiates a target chamber with a gas contained therein in order to produce radioactive isotopes.
The radionuclides to be used for SPECT imaging are usually recovered from nuclear reactors, with highly enriched uranium often being used herein in order to obtain e.g. 99Mo/99mTc. However, as a result of international treaties, it will become ever more difficult in future to operate reactors with highly enriched uranium, which could lead to a bottleneck in the supply of radionuclides for SPECT imaging.