Theranostic mercury: ^197(m)Hg with high specific activity for imaging and therapy

The no carrier added (NCA) radionuclide ^197(m)Hg is accessible through proton induced nuclear reactions on gold.The decay properties of both simultaneous produced nuclea risomers ^197mHg and ¹⁹⁷Hg like convenient half life, low energy gamma radiations for imaging, Auger and conversion electrons for therapy are combined with unique chemical and physical properties of mercury and its compounds. Gold as a monoisotopic element has a natural abundance of 100% ¹⁹⁷Au superseding expensive enrichment for the target material. Additionally, the high thermal conductivity of gold enables high beam current irradiations. For separation of target material a liquid–liquid extraction method was applied.