@article{oai:repo.qst.go.jp:00047565,
 author = {Ohya, Tomoyuki and Nagatsu, Kotaro and Suzuki, Hisashi and Fukada, Masami and Minegishi, Katsuyuki and Hanyu, Masayuki and Fukumura, Toshimitsu and Zhang, Ming-Rong and 大矢 智幸 and 永津 弘太郎 and 鈴木 寿 and 深田 正美 and 峯岸 克行 and 破入 正行 and 福村 利光 and 張 明栄},
 issue = {11},
 journal = {Nuclear Medicine and Biology},
 month = {Jul},
 note = {Introduction
Copper-64 is an attractive radionuclide for positron emission tomography and is emerging as a radiotherapeutic agent. The demand of 64Cu with low metallic impurities has increased because of its wide applications when incorporated with antibodies, peptides, and proteins. In this study, we propose a new separation method to produce high-quality 64Cu using a cation exchange column, as well as an automated separation system suitable for large-scale production.
\nMethods
64Cu was produced from an electrodeposited 64Ni target via the 64Ni(p,n)-reaction with a 24 MeV HH+ beam at 10 eμA (electrical microampere) conducted for 1–3 h. The irradiated target was transported to a hot cell and disassembled remotely. 64Cu was separated by a solvent mixture of HCl and acetone on a cation-exchange resin, AG50W-X8. The chemical purity of 64Cu final product was evaluated using ion-chromatography coupled with a UV detector and inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy for quality as well as metallic impurities.
\nResults
We obtained 64Cu in dried form at a yield of 5.2–13 GBq at the end of separation, or 521 ± 12 MBq/eμA h as the final product within 2.5 h of processing time. The metallic impurities were a satisfactory low level in the order of ppb. Major contaminants of Co and Ni were lower than those samples obtained by a widely accepted separation using an anion-exchange resin.
\nConclusion
Using a cation-exchange resin and a systematic operation, we successfully reduced the contamination level of the 64Cu product. As a straightforward separation method, which shortened the entire processing time, we obtained a satisfactory amount of high-quality 64Cu available for routine use.},
 pages = {685--691},
 title = {Efficient preparation of high-quality 64Cu for routine use},
 volume = {43},
 year = {2016}
}