Browsing by Author "Boyd, RE"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    The case for a national medical cyclotron
    (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, 1984-03) Smith, R; Hardy, CJ; Boyd, RE
    It is proposed that a National Medical Cyclotron and associated radioisotope processing facilities be established to provide Australia and the South East Asian and Pacific Regions with the full range of radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals vital to the diagnosis and treatment of a wide variety of medical conditions. Specifically a national medical cyclotron would be used to produce those cyclotron-produced radioisotopes which cannot be imported because of their short half-lives (e.g. carbon-11, nitrogen-13, oxygen-15, fluorine-18, iodine-123, rubidium-81, mercury-195m), and also those of long half-life which are imported at substantial cost (about $0.75 million in 1983) on a rather unreliable basis (e.g. gallium-67, thallium-201, indium-111). These cyclotron-produced radioisotopes (with the exception of iodine-123 to replace iodine-131) are complementary to the range of reactor-produced radioisotopes available from the Australian reactor HIFAR. Where feasible in terms of radioisotope lifetime, the products from the cyclotron would be distributed Australia-wide, and also to the immediate geographical region, using the Australia AEC distribution service already available for reactor-produced products. To take full advantage of the potential medical benefits, the cyclotron would be located in NSW at a major teaching hospital, provisionally the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, but it would be owned and operated by the Australian Atomic Energy Commission. Installation could be completed in 1987/88 at a cost of about $10 million. Funding of $200,000 is sought in 1984/85 for the preparation of detailed plans and specifications.
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    The derivation of a specification for fission-produced molybdenum-99 for the preparation of AAEC (autoclaved) MK II B 99Mo/99m Tc generators.
    (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, 1987-01) Boyd, RE; Druce, MJ
    Technetium-99m eluates are shown to contain significantly lower levels of radionuclidic impurities than the parent 99 Mo feed solution. It is well established that alumina absorption of 99 Mo followed by saline elution of 99m Tc leads to a considerable overall decontamination effect. This decontamination factor (DF) is defined as the ratio of radionuclidic impurities in the 99 Mo feed solution to radionuclidic impurities in the eluted 99m Tc. Impurity measurements were made on samples of fission product 99m Mo feed solutions and 99m Tc eluates from nominal 20 GBq and 150 GBq AAEC (autoclaved) Mk IIB generators. Minimum DFs were obtained which were then used to derive radionuclidic purity criteria for 99 Mo to satisfy the requirements of the British Pharmacopoeia.
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    Development of a pilot plant for the removal of rhenium from molybdenum trioxide
    (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, 1985-12) Lee, EJ; Sorby, PJ; Barnes, RK; Boyd, RE
    Reagent grade molybdenum trioxide used as a target material for the preparation of Tc-99m pharmaceuticals contains trace amounts of rhenium. A simple charcoal adsorptions process has been developed to remove rhenium selectively from molybdenum before neutron irradiation. Details are given of the design and operation of a pilot plant in which 17 kg of molybdenum trioxide was produced having a rhenium content of less than 1 x 10 -6 mu g g -1. Although contamination of the Tc-99m by inactive rhenium and 188 Re was effectively eliminated 188 Re resulting from the irradiation of tungsten impurity in the molybdenum trioxide target was still present.
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    A five year programme for radioisotope production at the Research Establishment
    (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, 1966-11) Boyd, RE; Engelbert, U; Gregory, JN; Miles, GL
    This report summarises plans for radioisotope production at Lucas Heights over the period 1966-71 and indicates how these are based on present trends of demand for radioisotopes. The programme is discussed in terms of available staff and facilities; while some small staff increases will be required, the facilities presently being commissioned should be adequate over this period.
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    Recent radiopharmaceutical research at the AAEC Research Establishment
    (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, 1985-12) Wilson, JG; Boyd, RE
    During the past few years a large part of the radiochemical research carried out at Lucas Heights has been devoted to the synthesis of ligands capable of forming chelate complexes with technetium-99m as part of a search for tumour-localising radiopharmaceuticals. An account is given of the synthesis and biological evaluation of a range of these compounds and of the investigation of certain biochemical and biological properties affecting the clinical application of both ligands and radiopharmaceuticals. In addition to the search for novel Tc-99m radiopharmaceuticals major research programs on the development of Tc-99m generating systems have been in progress at Lucas Heights for several years. Work on the AAEC's Mark III Tc-99m technetium generator has been brought to a successful conclusion. A new type of Tc-99m generator which uses an insoluble zirconium molybdate gel and provides high yields of pertechnetate by a simple elution technique has also been developed. Studies are in progress on the osmium-iridium generator.
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    Studies on 99mtc-pertechnetate from the MEK solvent extraction generator
    (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, 1984-12) Mohammad, R; Moore, DE; Maddalena, DJ; Boyd, RE
    Analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and high performance liquid chromatography has revealed organic residues in (99m)Tc-pertechnetate obtained from 99Mo-molybdate by extraction using the organic solvent methylethylketone (MEK). The organic residues have been identified as either (i) low molecular weight carbonyl compounds such as formaldehyde acetaldehyde and acetone presumably caused by the effects of gamma-radiation on MEK or (ii) condensation products resulting from the action of strong alkali on MEK during the extraction process. The quantities of organic residues varied from batch to batch of extracted pertechnetate; up to 40 μg mL -1 was found. When these compounds were tested in rats by addition to a pyrophosphate bone-seeking radiopharmaceutical the tissue distribution was not significantly different from that in the control which contained no added compound. Assay for 99Tc in MEK-derived pertechnetate indicated up to 10 μg mL -1 of 99Tc carrier. An assessment of the biological effect of 99Tc carrier was obtained by (i) red blood cell labelling where 6 ng mL -1 of 99Tc was sufficient to reduce labelling efficiency; and (ii) pyrophosphate tissue distribution where a significant effect was obtained in the presence of 10 μg mL -1 of 99Tc carrier.
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    Technetium-99m generators prepared from fission produced Molybdenum-99: quality control and performance aspects
    (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, 1971-10) Boyd, RE; Hetherington, ELR; Wood, NR
    99mTc generators distributed by the A.A.E.C. are based on 99Mo extracted from irradiated uranium. The production of these generators and the methods employed in their testing are described. The quantity of 99mTc eluted from these generators varied with pH of the eluant with maxima at pH 0.5 - 0.9, 3, 4.7 - 6.7 and > 9.5. Terminal autoclaving reduced the yield by 10 - 20 per cent.