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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.
R. Keppens
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 53 | Number 2 | February 2008 | Pages 135-143
Technical Paper | Equilibrium and Instabilities | dx.doi.org/10.13182/FST08-A1699
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The ideal MagnetoHydroDynamic (MHD) equations accurately describe the macroscopic dynamics of a perfectly conducting plasma. Adopting a continuum, single fluid description in terms of the plasma density , velocity v, thermal pressure p and magnetic field B, the ideal MHD system expresses conservation of mass, momentum, energy, and magnetic flux. This nonlinear, conservative system of 8 partial differential equations enriches the Euler equations governing the dynamics of a compressible gas with the dynamical influence - through the Lorentz force - and evolution - through the additional induction equation - of the magnetic field B. In multi-dimensional problems, the topological constraint expressed by the Maxwell equation B = 0, represents an additional complication for numerical MHD. Basic concepts of shock-capturing high-resolution schemes for computational MHD are presented, with an emphasis on how they cope with the thight physical demands resulting from nonlinearity, compressibility, conservation, and solenoidality.