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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.
Alexei Yu. Chirkov, Vladimir I. Khvesyuk
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 55 | Number 2 | February 2009 | Pages 162-167
Technical Paper | Seventh International Conference on Open Magnetic Systems for Plasma Confinement | dx.doi.org/10.13182/FST09-A7005
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Electromagnetic drift instabilities are considered for tandem mirror and field reversed plasma configurations taking into account effects of magnetic drift and finite ( = plasma pressure / magnetic pressure). Stabilization of drift modes due to finite plasma length along magnetic field lines is studied. Dispersion equation includes effects of the common actions of gradients of plasma density, ion temperature and electron temperature with no assumption of adiabatic response of ions or electrons for the ranges of perpendicular wave number values from k[perpindicular] < 1/Ti up to k[perpindicular] ~ 1/Te (Ti and Te are ion and electron thermal gyroradiuses). Instability induced turbulent transport is considered for mirror and field reversed magnetic configurations. Effect of sheared E × B flow on fluctuation level and transport is discussed.
