Production of terbium-152 by heavy ion reactions and proton induced spallation

Terbium-152 (Tb-152) is of potential value as a radiotracer for radiolanthanides in positron emission tomography. We report the production of Tb-152 by heavy ion reactions at the ANU Tandem accelerator, and by the spallation method at the CERN proton accelerator using the on-line ISOLDE separator, obtaining microcurie and millicurie yields, respectively. After purification, a phantom image in PET is obtained which shows the feasibility of using Tb-152 for monitoring the kinetics of Tb-149 and other radiolanthanides. However, the current availability of this radioisotope will be restricted to major nuclear physics research centres. (7 refs).