Application of therapeutic linear accelerators for the production of radioisotopes used in nuclear medicine

Abstract This review paper summarizes the possibilities of the use of therapeutic linear electron accelerators for the production of radioisotopes for nuclear medicine. This work is based on our published results and the thematically similar papers by other authors, directly related to five medical radioisotopes as 99Mo/99mTc, 198Au, 186Re, 188Re, 117mSn, produced using therapeutic linacs. Our unpublished data relating to the issues discussed have also been used here. In the experiments, two types of radiation were included in the analysis of the radioisotope production process, i.e. the therapeutic twenty-megavolt (20 MV) X-rays generated by Varian linacs and neutron radiation contaminating the therapeutic beam. Thus, the debated radioisotopes are produced in the photonuclear reactions and in the neutron ones. Linear therapeutic accelerators do not allow the production of radioisotopes with high specific activities, but the massive targets can be used instead. Thus, the amount of the produced radioisotopes may be increased. Apart from linear accelerators, more and more often, the production of radioisotopes is carried out in small medical cyclotrons. More such cyclotrons are developed, built, and sold commercially than for scientific research. The radioisotopes produced with the use of therapeutic linacs or cyclotrons can be successfully applied in various laboratory tests and in research.