Nuclear excitation functions for medical isotope production: Targeted radionuclide therapy via nat IR$(d, x)$ 193m Pt
193m Pt is an Auger emitting radionuclide which may have therapeutic potential, particularly when labeled to the chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin. One challenge to broader explorations of its clinical potential is the need for production routes with high specific activity. As part of a larger campaign to address gaps in reaction data for emerging medical radionuclides, this work seeks to characterize the nat Ir(d,x) reactions as a potential production pathway for 193m Pt. A stacked target irradiation, consisting of natural iridium, iron, nickel, and copper foils, was performed using a 33 MeV deuteron beam at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 88-Inch Cyclotron. This measurement, along with previous experimental data, suggests an energy window between 11 to 18 MeV to maximize the production and radiopurity of 193m Pt. This experiment has yielded cross sections for 43 channels of deuteron-induced reactions from threshold to 30 MeV, including the first experimental results of nat Ir(d,x) 188m1+g,190m1+g Ir (cumulative), nat Ni(d,x) 56,57,58 m,58g Co (independent), nat Cu(d,x) 61 Co (cumulative) and nat Fe(d,x) 53 Fe, 48 V (cumulative). The results were compared with literature data, the TENDL-2023 database, and default theoretical calculations from the TALYS-2.04, CoH-3.6.0, EMPIRE 3.2.3, and ALICE-2020 reaction modeling codes. Here, this work presents another example of the lack of predictive capabilities for this set of modern nuclear-reaction modeling codes, and highlights the unsatisfactory modeling of experimental cross sections. Experimental data are important to improve the codes in general, and new experimental results can be used to improve the models. Finally, this measurement has revealed the need for an updated evaluation of the nat Cu(d,x) 63 Zn deuteron monitor reaction.