Nuclear excitation functions for medical isotope production: targeted radionuclide therapy via nat Ir(d, x)193mPt

^193mPt is a medically valuable Auger-emitting radionuclide, believed to 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 ^natIr(d,x) reactions as a potential production pathway for ^193mPt. 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 ^193mPt. This experiment has yielded cross sections for 42 reaction channels of deuteron-induced reactions from threshold to 30 MeV, including the first experimental results of ^natIr(d,x)^{188m1+g,190m1+g}Ir (cumulative), ^natNi(d,x)^{56,57,58m,58g}Co (independent), ^natNi(d,x)⁵³Fe (cumulative), and ^natFe(d,x)^{48 V, 51 Cr}(cumulative). The results were compared with literature data, the TENDL-2019 database, and default theoretical calculations from the TALYS-1.9, CoH-3.5.3, EMPIRE-3.2.3, and ALICE-2017 reaction modeling codes. This work presents another example of the lack of predictive capabilities for this set of modern nuclear-reaction modeling codes, and highlights unsatisfactory modeling in the A ≈ 190 mass region, which proved particularly difficult to model using CoH-3.5.3. Finally, this measurement has revealed weaknesses with the current evaluation of the ^natCu(d,x)⁶³Zn deuteron monitor reaction.