Production of Ga-68 with a General Electric PETtrace cyclotron by liquid target

Purpose: In recent years the use of 68Ga (t1/2 = 67.84 min, β+: 88.88%) for the labelling of different PET radiopharmaceuticals has significantly increased. This work aims to evaluate the feasibility of the production of 68Ga via the 68Zn(p,n)68Ga reaction by proton irradiation of an enriched zinc solution, using a biomedical cyclotron, in order to satisfy its increasing demand. Methods: Irradiations of 1.7 M solution of 68Zn(NO3)2 in 0.2 N HNO3 were conducted with a GE PETtrace cyclotron using a slightly modified version of the liquid target used for the production of fluorine-18. The proton beam energy was degraded to 12 MeV, in order to minimize the production of 67Ga through the 68Zn(p,2n)67Ga reaction. The product's activity was measured using a calibrated activity meter and a High Purity Germanium gamma-ray detector. Results: The saturation yield of 68Ga amounts to (330 ± 20) MBq/µA, corresponding to a produced activity of 68Ga at the EOB of (4.3 ± 0.3) GBq in a typical production run at 46 µA for 32 min. The radionuclidic purity of the 68Ga in the final product, after the separation, is within the limits of the European Pharmacopoeia (>99.9%) up to 3 h after the EOB. Radiochemical separation up to a yield not lower than 75% was obtained using an automated purification module. The enriched material recovery efficiency resulted higher than 80–90%. Conclusions: In summary, this approach provides clinically relevant amounts of 68Ga by cyclotron irradiation of a liquid target, as a competitive alternative to the current production through the 68Ge/68Ga generators.