1991 Volume 40 Issue 3 Pages 118-121
We have produced 52Fe to be used for the scintigraphy of bone marrow. The natural chromium electroplated onto copper plates was irradiated by the 38 Me V 3He internal beam from the IMS cyclotron at 20-30 μA for 2-3 h. The 52Fe yield from thick chromium target ranged 0.7-1.3 MBq/μA·h at the end of bombardment (EOB) . The irradiated chromium was dissolved in hydrochloric acid and about 90% of 52Fe was prepared as ferric citrate after the chemical separation based on the extraction with diisopropyl ether. The contents of impurity elements and long-lived radio-nuclides were measured. The specific activity was 0.6 MBq/μg Fe and the relative content of 52Fe was 0.06% both at EOB. The results suggested the possible use of the produced 52Fe for medical use, though further investigations are necessary. The 169 keV γ-ray images of a rabbit taken with a scintillation camera at 0.5 and 16 h after intravenous injection of the prepared 52Fe pharmaceutical are presented.
