We investigate the feasibility of using laser accelerated protons/deuterons for positron emission tomography (PET) isotope production by means of the nuclear reactions $^{ 11}$B($p,n$)$^{ 11}$C and $^{ 10}$B($d,n$)$^{ 11}$C. The second reaction has a positive Q-value and no energy threshold. One can, therefore, make use of the lower energy part of the laser-generated deuterons, which includes the majority of the accelerated deuterons. The $^{ 11}$C produced from the reaction $^{ 10}$B($d,n$)$^{ 11}$C is estimated to be 7.4 $\times$ 10$^{ 9}$ per laser-shot at the Titan laser at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Meanwhile a high-repetition table top laser irradiation is estimated to generate 3.5 $\times$ 10$^7$ $^{ 11}$C per shot from the same reaction. In terms of the $^{ 11}$C activity, it is about 2 $\times$ 10$^4$ Bq per shot. If this laser delivers kHz, the activity is integrated to 1 GBq after 3 minutes. The number is sufficient for the practical application in medical imaging for PET.
Categories: physics.plasm-ph physics.med-ph