| Summary: | A self-shielded medical cyclotron (11 MeV) was commissioned at our center, to produce positron emitters, namely, <sup> 18</sup> F, <sup> 15</sup> O, <sup> 13</sup> N and <sup> 11</sup> C for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Presently the cyclotron has been exclusively used for the production of <sup> 18</sup> F<sup> -</sup> for <sup> 18</sup> F-FDG imaging. The operational parameters which influence the yield of <sup> 18</sup> F<sup> - </sup> production were monitored. The radiation levels in the cyclotron and radiochemistry laboratory were also monitored to assess the radiation safety status in the facility. The target material, <sup> 18</sup> O water, is bombarded with proton beam from the cyclotron to produce <sup> 18</sup> F<sup> -</sup> ion that is used for the synthesis of <sup> 18</sup> F-FDG. The operational parameters which influence the yield of <sup> 18</sup> F<sup> -</sup> were observed during 292 production runs out of a total of more than 400 runs. The radiation dose levels were also measured in the facility at various locations during cyclotron production runs and in the radiochemistry laboratory during <sup> 18</sup> F-FDG syntheses. It was observed that rinsing the target after delivery increased the number of production runs in a given target, as well as resulted in a better correlation between the duration of bombardment and the end of bombardment <sup> 18</sup> F<sup> -</sup> activity with absolutely clean target after being rebuilt. The radiation levels in the cyclotron and radiochemistry laboratory were observed to be well within prescribed limits with safe work practice.
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