Cornelia Hoehr, Elisabeth Paulßen, Francois Benard, Chris Jaeil Lee, Xinchi Hou, Brian Badesso, Simon Ferguson, Qing Miao, Hua Yang, Ken Buckley, Victoire Hanemaayer, Stefan Zeisler, Thomas J. Ruth, Anna Celler, Paul Schaffer
- Access to promising radiometals as isotopes for novel molecular imaging agents requires that they are routinely available and inexpensive to obtain. Proximity to a cyclotron center outfitted with solid target hardware, or to an isotope generator for the metal of interest is necessary, both of which can introduce significant hurdles in development of less common isotopes. Herein, we describe the production of ⁴⁴Sc (t₁⸝₂ = 3.97 h, Eavg,β⁺ = 1.47 MeV, branching ratio = 94.27%) in a solution target and an automated loading system which allows a quick turn-around between different radiometallic isotopes and therefore greatly improves their availability for tracer development. Experimental yields are compared to theoretical calculations.