title: Development of a nickel plated aluminum krypton-81m target system.
abstract: A fully automated system was developed to produce rubidium-81 (81Rb), based on thenatKr (p, n)81Rb reaction. The energy incident on the target was 26MeV. Only 6MeV was stopped inside the gas and the remainder was stopped by a specially designed flange. The target body was characterized by its conical shape and its inner walls were chemically plated with 100±10µm of nickel (Ni). Ni is advantageous as a fairly good conductor of heat whose surface can resist solutions. Additionally, the Ni plated target allowed potassium chloride to dissolve81Rb, with no further effect on the target body. The system produced81Rb with a production yield of approximately 4.5mCi/µAh, which is close to the calculated expected yield of 5.3mCi/µAh. The system is able to deliver reliable and reproducible radioactivity for patients and can be operated up to 1500µAh before preventive maintenance is due. Key steps in designing the81Rb target for selected energy ranges are reported here.
authors.affiliation: King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Department of Cyclotron and Radiopharmaceuticals, Research Centre, Riyadh 11211, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: rumayan@kfshrc.edu.sa.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alrumayan
authors.affiliation: King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Department of Cyclotron and Radiopharmaceuticals, Research Centre, Riyadh 11211, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Okarvi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiopharmaceuticals Development, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Sciences and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-Ku, Chiba 263, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagatsu
authors.affiliation: King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Department of Cyclotron and Radiopharmaceuticals, Research Centre, Riyadh 11211, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yanbawi
authors.affiliation: King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Department of Cyclotron and Radiopharmaceuticals, Research Centre, Riyadh 11211, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Aljammaz
keywords: (81)Rb; (81m)Kr; Cyclotron; Gas target