The ISOLPHARM project aims at the production of a wide set of high purity radioisotopes for medical use, either for diagnosis or for therapy. They will be used as a fundamental component in innovative radiopharmaceuticals.
Figure 1. Generic structure of a radiopharmaceutical
The idea behind ISOLPHARM is to exploit the ISOL (Isotope Separation On-Line) technique in the soon-to-be operative SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species) facility to obtain radioisotopes with high specific activity, by means of one or more mass separation stages. ISOLPHARM is therefore an extremely innovative method, part of a INFN patent, to produce radiopharmaceuticals which are not easily obtained with traditional techniques.
Figure 2. Layout of the ISOLPHARM method
The current experimental activities are carried out in the framework of the ISOLPHARM_EIRA experiment of the CSN5 of INFN. The main radioisotope of interest is 111Ag, which can be used to exert both a therapeutic and a diagnostic function, due to its decay properties. Several devices are being designed and constructed to progress with the project development.
Figure 3. The ion collector developed for ISOLPHARM
Bibliography:
- S. Corradetti, A. Andrighetto, “The ISOLPHARM Project: Production of High Specific Activity Medical Radioisotopes at SPES”, Nuclear Physics News 30 (2020) 33.
- M. Ballan et al., “Development of implantation substrates for the collection of radionuclides of medical interest produced via ISOL technique at INFN-LNL”, Applied Radiation and Isotopes 175 (2021) 109795.