The production of [124I]iodine and [86Y]yttrium.

The use of paired tracers such as (124)I/(131)I and (86)Y/(90)Y allows pretherapy PET imaging with positron emitting radioisotopes of the same element as used for therapy. Whereas nowadays most therapy nuclides are produced by reactors or generators, the production of the corresponding PET isotopes requires the irradiation of adequate targets using particle accelerators such as cyclotrons. This paper describes the production routes for (124)I and (86)Y.