Frontiers in Medicine (Oct 2021)

Terbium Medical Radioisotope Production: Laser Resonance Ionization Scheme Development

  • Vadim Maratovich Gadelshin,
  • Vadim Maratovich Gadelshin,
  • Roberto Formento Cavaier,
  • Roberto Formento Cavaier,
  • Ferid Haddad,
  • Reinhard Heinke,
  • Reinhard Heinke,
  • Reinhard Heinke,
  • Thierry Stora,
  • Dominik Studer,
  • Felix Weber,
  • Klaus Wendt

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2021.727557
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8

Abstract

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Terbium (Tb) is a promising element for the theranostic approach in nuclear medicine. The new CERN-MEDICIS facility aims for production of its medical radioisotopes to support related R&D projects in biomedicine. The use of laser resonance ionization is essential to provide radioisotopic yields of highest quantity and quality, specifically regarding purity. This paper presents the results of preparation and characterization of a suitable two-step laser resonance ionization process for Tb. By resonance excitation via an auto-ionizing level, the high ionization efficiency of 53% was achieved. To simulate realistic production conditions for Tb radioisotopes, the influence of a surplus of Gd atoms, which is a typical target material for Tb generation, was considered, showing the necessity of radiochemical purification procedures before mass separation. Nevertheless, a 10-fold enhancement of the Tb ion beam using laser resonance ionization was observed even with Gd:Tb atomic ratio of 100:1.

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