Analysis of FDG Radiopharmaceutical Injected into Cancer Tissue by Increasing the Mole Fraction of Oxygen-18 Using MCNP

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Nuclear Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Petroleum and Chemistry Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

10.22052/rsm.2025.256264.1090

Abstract

A PET scan, or positron emission tomography, is a non-invasive method used to create three-dimensional images of tissues containing a radiopharmaceutical based on the amount of positrons emitted. The process requires substances such as fluorine-18 deoxyglucose (FDG), the production of which necessitates the separation of fluorine-18 and oxygen-18 isotopes with high enrichment. FDG, the most common radiopharmaceutical used in PET imaging, is produced in a saline solvent, stored in a glass vial, and injected intravenously. The use of cryogenic distillation columns as an industrial method is suitable for producing enriched oxygen. In this study, two enrichments of 95% and 99% oxygen-18 were evaluated using the ORNL phantom in the MCNP6 nuclear code. The liver was selected as the cancerous tissue, and the energy deposited (MeV/gram) in the tissue was calculated using Tally No. 6. The results indicate that increasing the oxygen-18 mole fraction from 95% to 99% significantly enhances the fluorine-18 yield. Specifically, the uptake of fluorine deoxyglucose (FDG), represented as energy uptake in MCNP6, increased by approximately 15% at 99% enrichment. This suggests that higher enrichment can improve the sensitivity and accuracy of PET imaging in cancer detection.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Radiation Safety and Measurement
Volume 14, Issue 2 - Serial Number 54
September 2025
Pages 77-83

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