With expanding application of positron emission tomography (PET) in diagnostic nuclear medicine, there is need for low-cost, turnkey systems for PET isotope production. The applicant organization has proposed to develop the "Nested High Voltage Generator" (NHVGTM), a new-generation, energy-efficient particle accelerator, that would generate 4.4 MeV proton and deuteron beams with I mA current output. The capital cost, operating cost, and size of the NHVG are progected to be ten to twenty percent of that for biomedical cyclotrons currently used for PET isotope production. To bring the NHVG to market as a PET isotope production instrument, targets compatible with its high beam current and low particle energy must be engineered. Although the basic nuclear physics of PET isotope Droduction with low energy proton/deuteron beams is proven in the research literature, design parameters for high-beam-current targets are poorly understood. In Phase I, the applicants have proposed to address feasibility by testing target designs and measuring isotope production yields from NHVG irradiation.Awardee's statement of the potential commercial applications of the research:The technology being developed in this project will make possible the introduction of low-cost instrumentation for positron emission tomography (PET). Currently, the high-cost and complexity of PET systems has limited the technology to large research institutions and teaching hospitals (70 USA, 90 abroad). The new instrumentation developed with partial support from this grant will directly impact the practice of diagnostic nuclear medicine at community hospitals and free-standing clinics. The customer base is estimated at >1,000 sites in the USA, with an equivalent number abroad.National Center for Research Resources (NCRR)
