Can we reach suitable 161Tb purity for medical applications using the 160Gd(d,n) reaction?

Etienne Nigron; Arnaud Guertin; Férid Haddad; Lucas Granger; Maxence Rayer; Alexandre Rintaud

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110927

Can we reach suitable ¹⁶¹Tb purity for medical applications using the ¹⁶⁰Gd(d,n) reaction?

Appl Radiat Isot. 2023 Oct:200:110927. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110927. Epub 2023 Jul 6.

Authors

Etienne Nigron¹, Arnaud Guertin², Férid Haddad³, Lucas Granger², Maxence Rayer², Alexandre Rintaud²

Affiliations

¹ GIP ARRONAX, 1 rue Aronnax, 44817, Saint Herblain, France. Electronic address: nigron@arronax-nantes.fr.
² Laboratory SUBATECH, CNRS/IN2P3, IMT Atlantique, Nantes Université, 4, rue Alfred Kastler, 44307, Nantes, France.
³ GIP ARRONAX, 1 rue Aronnax, 44817, Saint Herblain, France; Laboratory SUBATECH, CNRS/IN2P3, IMT Atlantique, Nantes Université, 4, rue Alfred Kastler, 44307, Nantes, France.

PMID: 37480734
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110927

Abstract

Terbium is a chemical element that has several radioactive isotopes with suitable physical characteristics to be used in medical applications either for imaging or for therapy. This makes terbium a promising element to implement the theranostic approach. For therapeutic applications, ¹⁶¹Tb (T_1/2 = 6.89 d) is suitable for targeted β-therapy. The main production route is through neutron capture reaction in nuclear reactors. In this work, we explored an alternative production route, the ¹⁶⁰Gd(d,n)¹⁶¹Tb reaction. We have measured its production cross-section as well as those of possible co-produced contaminants, with a special focus on ¹⁶⁰Tb (T_1/2 = 72.3 d). To achieve this, cross-section measurements were made from natural gadolinium target. Production yields of 10.3 MBq/μA/h for the ¹⁶¹Tb and 1.5 MBq/μA/h for the ¹⁶⁰Tb were obtained at 20 MeV. A¹⁶¹Tb radionuclidic purity of 86% was achieved over the 8 MeV-20 MeV energy range. The co-production of other terbium isotopes limits the interest of using higher energies. Based on the limited purity of ¹⁶¹Tb using the ¹⁶⁰Gd(d,n)¹⁶¹Tb reaction, we conclude that it is not a production route suitable for medical applications. Although, this may be reconsidered when mass separation technique with high efficiency will be available.

Keywords: (161)Tb; Accelerator productions; Cross-sections; Deuteron reactions; Terbium; Theranostic.