Sc production from enriched TiO targets with a medical cyclotron.

Sc is a β-emitter which has been extensively studied for nuclear medicine applications. Its promising decay characteristics [t = 3.97 h, E [Formula: see text] = 632 keV (94.3%), E = 1157 keV (99.9%); 1499 keV (0.91%)] make it highly attractive for clinical PET imaging, offering an alternative to the widely used Ga [t = 67.7 min, E [Formula: see text] = 836 keV (87.7%)]. Notably, its nearly fourfold longer half-life opens avenues for applications with biomolecules having extended biological half-lives and enables the centralized distribution of Sc radiopharmaceuticals. An additional advantage of employing Sc as a diagnostic radioisotope lies in its counterpart, the β-emitter Sc, which is currently under investigation for targeted radiotherapy. Together, they form an ideal theranostic pair, providing a comprehensive solution for both diagnostic imaging and therapeutic applications in nuclear medicine. At the Bern medical cyclotron, a study to optimize the production of scandium radioisotopes is currently ongoing. In this context, proton irradiation of titanium targets has been investigated, exploiting the reactions Ti(p,α)Sc and Ti(p,α)Sc. This approach enables the production of Sc radioisotopes within a single PET medical cyclotron facility, employing identical chemical procedures for target preparation and post-irradiation processing. In this paper, we report on cross-section measurements of the Ti(p,α)Sc nuclear reaction using 95.7% enriched TiO targets. On the basis of the obtained results, the production yield and purity were calculated to assess the optimal irradiation conditions. Production tests were performed to confirm these findings.