This pictorial view is an initiative
of the Nuclear Medicine Europe Innovation Working Group
“There are four ways to produce radionuclides for medical applications: purification of fission products (uranium or thorium decay chain), irradiation of targets with neutron/gamma beam, extraction from decay products in generators, or irradiation of targets with proton, deuteron or alpha beam in an accelerator. Cyclotrons are circular accelerators that present the most convenient way to obtain on-site, short half-life radionuclides of high quality. However, radionuclides can only be produced under precise sets of parameters including particle energy, current, time, and adequate target material.”