Cyclotron production of 43Sc for PET imaging

Recently, significant interest in 44Sc as a tracer for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging has been observed. Unfortunately, the co-emission by 44Sc of high-energy γ rays (Eγ = 1157, 1499 keV) causes a dangerous increase of the radiation dose to the patients and clinical staff. However, it is possible to produce another radionuclide of scandium—43Sc—having properties similar to 44Sc but is characterized by much lower energy of the concurrent gamma emissions. This work presents the production route of 43Sc by α irradiation of natural calcium, its separation and purification processes, and the labeling of [DOTA,Tyr3] octreotate (DOTATATE) bioconjugate. Methods: Natural CaCO3 and enriched [40Ca]CaCO3 were irradiated with alpha particles for 1 h in an energy range of 14.8–30 MeV at a beam current of 0.5 or 0.25 μA. In order to find the optimum method for the separation of 43Sc from irradiated calcium targets, three processes previously developed for 44Sc were tested. Radiolabeling experiments were performed with DOTATATE radiobioconjugate, and the stability of the obtained 43Sc-DOTATATE was tested in human serum. Results: Studies of natCaCO3 target irradiation by alpha particles show that the optimum alpha particle energies are in the range of 24–27 MeV, giving 102 MBq/μA/h of 43Sc radioactivity which creates the opportunity to produce several GBq of 43Sc. The separation experiments performed indicate that, as with 44Sc, due to the simplicity of the operations and because of the chemical purity of the 43Sc obtained, the best separation process is when UTEVA resin is used. The DOTATATE conjugate was labeled by the obtained 43Sc with a yield >98 % at elevated temperature. Conclusions: Tens of GBq activities of 43Sc of high radionuclidic purity can be obtainable for clinical applications by irradiation of natural calcium with an alpha beam

Quantitative impact testing of energy dissipation at surfaces

Impact testing with nanoscale spatial, force, and temporal resolution has been developed to address quantitatively the response of surfaces to impingement of local contact at elevated velocities. Here, an impact is generated by imparting energy to a pendulum carrying an indenter, which then swings towards a specimen surface. The pendulum displacement as a function of time x (t) is recorded, from which one can extract the maximum material penetration x max, residual deformation x r, and indentation durations t in and t out. In an inverse application one can use the x (t) response to extract material constants characterizing the impact deformation and extent of energy absorption, including material specific resistance coefficient C in, coefficient of restitution e, and dynamic hardness H imp. This approach also enables direct access to the ratio H/E, or resilience of the deformed material volume, at impact velocities of interest. The impact response of aluminum was studied for different contact velocities, and the mechanical response was found to correlate well with our one-dimensional contact model. Further experiments on annealed and work hardened gold showed that dynamic hardness H imp scales with contact velocity and highlighted the importance of rate-dependent energy absorption mechanisms that can be captured by the proposed experimental approach