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

Copper-64 (64Cu, T1/2=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.