A Novel Automatic Focusing System for the Production of Radioisotopes for Theranostics

Résumé fourni par la source

A research program on the production of novel radioisotopes for theranostics is ongoing at the 18 MeV Bern medical cyclotron laboratory equipped with a solid target station. Targets are made of rare and expensive isotope enriched materials in form of compressed 6 mm diameter pellets. The irradiation of such a small target is challenging. A specific capsule has been developed made of two aluminum halves kept together by permanent magnets. Since the beam extracted from a medical cyclotron is about 12 mm FWHM, an automatic compact focusing system was conceived and constructed to optimise the irradiation procedure. It is based on a 0.5 m long magnetic system, embedding two quadrupoles and two steering magnets, and a non-destructive beam monitoring detector located in front of the target. The profiles measured by the detector are elaborated by a specific software that, through a feedback optimisation algorithm, acts on the magnets and keeps the beam focused on target. Being about 1 m long, it can be installed in any existing medical cyclotron facility. The design of the first prototype together with the results of the first beam tests are presented.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.