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Researchers report fastest purification of astatine-211 needed for targeted cancer therapy
Astatine-211 recovery from bismuth metal using a chromatography system. Unlike bismuth, astatine-211 forms chemical bonds with ketones.
In a recent study, Texas A&M University researchers have described a new process to purify astatine-211, a promising radioactive isotope for targeted cancer treatment. Unlike other elaborate purification methods, their technique can extract astatine-211 from bismuth in minutes rather than hours, which can greatly reduce the time between production and delivery to the patient.
“Astatine-211 is currently under evaluation as a cancer therapeutic in clinical trials. But the problem is that the supply chain for this element is very limited because only a few places worldwide can make it,” said Jonathan Burns, research scientist in the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station’s Nuclear Engineering and Science Center. “Texas A&M University is one of a handful of places in the world that can make astatine-211, and we have delineated a rapid astatine-211 separation process that increases the usable quantity of this isotope for research and therapeutic purposes.”
The researchers added that this separation method will bring Texas A&M one step closer to being able to provide astatine-211 for distribution through the Department of Energy’s Isotope Program’s National Isotope Development Center as part of the University Isotope Network.
Details on the chemical reaction to purify astatine-211 are in the journal Separation and Purification Technology.
H. J. de Blank
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 49 | Number 2 | February 2006 | Pages 118-130
Technical Paper | Plasma and Fusion Energy Physics - Equilibrium and Instabilities | dx.doi.org/10.13182/FST06-A1111
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A general introduction to ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability of tokamak plasmas is given, using linear perturbations of the ideal MHD equations. Subsequently the Energy Principle for ideal MHD instabilities is derived. The specific instabilities which are then discussed are loosely divided into two categories. Under the name "current driven instabilities", external and internal kink modes, which are modes with a large radial extent, are discussed. The internal m = 1 kink mode is responsible for sawtooth collapses and fishbone oscillations in tokamaks. Under the header "pressure driven instabilities", more localized modes are presented. These modes may limit the pressure gradient in the plasma without causing sizeable disruptions. The ballooning limit and the Mercier criterion are presented. The Troyon limit is mentioned as a synthesis of several of these stability boundaries.
