  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.
