Deuteron-induced reactions generated by intense Lasers for PET isotope production

TL;DR

This study explores using laser-accelerated protons and deuterons for producing PET isotopes, demonstrating the potential for practical medical imaging applications with laser-driven nuclear reactions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method of producing PET isotopes using laser-accelerated particles via specific nuclear reactions, with feasibility demonstrated at different laser scales.

Findings

Laser-produced deuterons can generate sufficient $^{11}$C for PET imaging.

High-repetition lasers can produce 1 GBq activity in about 3 minutes.

The method is feasible for practical medical PET isotope production.

Abstract

We investigate the feasibility of using laser accelerated protons/deuterons for positron emission tomography (PET) isotope production by means of the nuclear reactions $^{11}$B($p,n$)$^{11}$C and $^{10}$B($d,n$)$^{11}$C. The second reaction has a positive Q-value and no energy threshold. One can, therefore, make use of the lower energy part of the laser-generated deuterons, which includes the majority of the accelerated deuterons. The $^{11}$C produced from the reaction $^{10}$B($d,n$)$^{11}$C is estimated to be 7.4 $\times$ 10$^{9}$ per laser-shot at the Titan laser at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Meanwhile a high-repetition table top laser irradiation is estimated to generate 3.5 $\times$ 10$^7$ $^{11}$C per shot from the same reaction. In terms of the $^{11}$C activity, it is about 2 $\times$ 10$^4$ Bq per shot. If this laser delivers kHz, the activity is integrated to 1 GBq after 3 minutes. The number is sufficient for the practical application in medical imaging for PET.