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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.
A. Krämer-Flecken
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 53 | Number 2 | February 2008 | Pages 409-416
Technical Paper | Diagnostics | dx.doi.org/10.13182/FST08-A1726
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The measurement of plasma quantities is a difficult task since the plasma cannot be treated like normal material. Any measurement of plasma quantities with solid electrostatic probes will yield interactions with the plasma and causes a perturbation of the measured quantity. Inside a hot plasma those methods are not applicable, since they lead to a disruption of the discharge.An other way of diagnosing a hot plasma is the measurement of the emitted radiation in the infrared and microwave region as well as probing the plasma with infrared and micro waves. The measurement of the reflected wave yields also information on the plasma density from the refractive index. With microwave and far infrared diagnostics plasma properties can be measured quite accurate and reliable. Main plasma parameters as the electron density and the electron temperature can be measured. Even the measurement of fluctuations in density and temperature and the determination of the plasma current density are possible with sophisticated diagnostics.In the following section the optical properties of the plasma will be developed. Sections III to VI are devoted to different diagnostic techniques.