How medical radionuclides are produced
A radionuclide is produced by irradiating a target with neutrons in a nuclear reactor or with protons in a cyclotron. A nuclear reaction turns the target atom into an atom of another isotope. To obtain the required radionuclide with a high yield and without harmful impurities, the target is made of an enriched stable isotope: in the natural mixture the required isotope is often only a few percent, and the others produce unwanted radionuclides.
We supply the stable isotopes for targets. Radionuclides are then produced by reactor centres, cyclotron laboratories and radiopharmaceutical manufacturers.
Main “target → radionuclide” pairs
| Stable isotope (target) | Radionuclide | Half-life | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| ⁹⁸Mo (reactor) | ⁹⁹Mo → ⁹⁹ᵐTc | 66 h / 6.0 h | SPECT — the most widely used diagnostic radionuclide |
| ¹⁰⁰Mo (cyclotron) | ⁹⁹ᵐTc | 6.0 h | SPECT, direct cyclotron production |
| H₂¹⁸O water (cyclotron) | ¹⁸F | ≈ 110 min | PET (including FDG) |
| ⁶⁴Ni (cyclotron) | ⁶⁴Cu | 12.7 h | PET, theranostics |
| ⁶⁸Zn (cyclotron) | ⁶⁸Ga / ⁶⁷Ga | 68 min / 3.3 d | PET / SPECT |
| ⁶⁹Ga (cyclotron) | ⁶⁸Ge → ⁶⁸Ga | 271 d | gallium-68 generators |
| ¹⁷⁶Yb (reactor) | ¹⁷⁷Lu | 6.6 d | radionuclide therapy |
| ¹⁷⁶Lu (reactor) | ¹⁷⁷Lu | 6.6 d | radionuclide therapy |
| ¹²⁴Te (cyclotron) | ¹²⁴I | 4.2 d | PET |
| ¹²³Te (cyclotron) | ¹²³I | 13.2 h | thyroid SPECT |
| ¹³⁰Te (reactor) | ¹³¹I | 8.0 d | thyroid therapy |
| ²⁰³Tl (cyclotron) | ²⁰¹Tl | 73 h | myocardial perfusion imaging |
| ¹¹¹Cd, ¹¹²Cd (cyclotron) | ¹¹¹In | 2.8 d | SPECT |
| ¹⁵²Sm (reactor) | ¹⁵³Sm | 46 h | pain relief in bone metastases |
| ⁸⁸Sr (reactor) | ⁸⁹Sr | 50.5 d | pain relief in bone metastases |
| ¹⁰²Pd (reactor) | ¹⁰³Pd | 17 d | brachytherapy |
| ¹⁶⁰Gd (reactor) | ¹⁶¹Tb | 6.9 d | radionuclide therapy |
| ¹⁸⁶W (reactor) | ¹⁸⁸W → ¹⁸⁸Re | 69 d / 17 h | rhenium-188 generators, therapy |
Half-lives from reference data (rounded). The full list of medical isotopes with enrichment is on the Isotopes for nuclear medicine page.
Why target enrichment matters
- Yield. The more target isotope the target contains, the more radionuclide one irradiation produces.
- Radionuclidic purity. Other isotopes of the element produce unwanted radionuclides that degrade image quality and increase the patient dose.
- Cost. Expensive targets such as ⁶⁴Ni or ¹⁷⁶Yb are often recovered after irradiation and reused, so chemical composition matters too.
Spent O-18 water
After fluorine-18 production, enriched H₂¹⁸O water partly loses its enrichment. Instead of discarding it, it can be re-enriched and returned to the cycle — see re-enrichment of H₂¹⁸O water to 98+ at.%.
How to order a target isotope
Specify the isotope, required enrichment, chemical form (metal or oxide, depending on the target manufacturing technology) and quantity. How ordering works is described in “How to order a stable isotope”.
We send a quotation with price, lead time and specification within 1–2 business days. The price depends on the isotope, enrichment, form and quantity.