Tb production by cyclotrons: what level of Gd enrichment allows clinical applications?

Background: Tb represents a potentially useful radionuclide for diagnostic medical applications, but its production remains a challenging problem, in spite of the fact that many production routes have been already investigated and tested. A recent experimental campaign, conducted with low-energy proton beams impinging on a Gd target with 91.9% enrichment, demonstrated a significant co-production of Tb, a contaminant of great concern since its half-life is comparable to that of Tb and its high-energy γ emissions severely impact on the dose released and on the quality of the SPECT images.

A rare variation in the origin of the lingual artery: thyro-linguo-laryngeal trunk.

The anatomy of the external carotid artery and its variations are of ground significance in head and neck surgery. During a dissection of a male cadaver, an undescribed common trunk between superior thyroid, superior laryngeal, and lingual arteries was found. The variations of the anterior cervical branches of the external carotid artery and their clinical implications are discussed.

Internal radiation dose assessment of radiopharmaceuticals prepared with cyclotron-produced Tc.

Purpose: Technetium-99m ( Tc) is the radioisotope most widely used in diagnostic nuclear medicine. It is readily available from Mo/ Tc generators as the β decay product of the Mo (T  = 66 h) parent nuclide. This latter is obtained as a fission product in nuclear reactors by neutron-induced reactions on highly enriched uranium.

In-house cyclotron production of high-purity Tc-99m and Tc-99m radiopharmaceuticals.

In the last years, the technology for producing the important medical radionuclide technetium-99m by cyclotrons has become sufficiently mature to justify its introduction as an alternative source of the starting precursor [Tc][TcO] ubiquitously employed for the production of Tc-radiopharmaceuticals in hospitals. These technologies make use almost exclusively of the nuclear reaction Mo(p,2n)Tc that allows direct production of Tc-99m. In this study, it is conjectured that this alternative production route will not replace the current supply chain based on the distribution of Mo/Tc generators, but could become a convenient emergency source of Tc-99m only for in-house hospitals equipped with a conventional, low-energy, medical cyclotron.