Prototype validation for an automated lutetium-177 processing system

镥-177（Lu-177）是一种广受欢迎的医疗同位素，用于治疗各种癌症。这种同位素目前在世界各地的少数高通量核反应堆中生产，通过将稳定同位素Yb-176暴露于中子，然后化学分离Lu-177。我们的团队开发了一种比行业标准更有效的分离Lu-177的新工艺。它可用于处理来自高通量和中等通量反应堆的材料，这将扩大这种日益重要的医用同位素的供应链并使其多样化。它也比标准方法产生更少的放射性废物。然而，新的工艺与临床生产环境不兼容，在临床生产环境中，化学分离必须自动化，以保持质量标准并保护技术人员免受辐射照射。本文提出的工作将使我们能够测试一个原型，该原型可用于使用我们的新分离方法自动化，免提处理Lu-177。原型将使用低，中，高水平的Lu-177进行测试，每次都将进行全面的质量测试，以验证其符合临床使用标准。随着这些实验的完成，我们可以开始将这项技术部署到世界各地的设施中，以增加这种同位素的全球供应。

Lutetium-177 (Lu-177) is a sought-after medical isotope for treating a wide range of cancers. This isotope is currently produced at a handful of high flux nuclear reactors around the world by exposing the stable isotope Yb-176 to neutrons, and then chemically separating the Lu-177. Our group has developed a new process for separating Lu-177 that is more efficient than the industry standard. It can be used to process material from both high flux and medium flux reactors, which will expand and diversify the supply chain for this increasingly important medical isotope. It also generates less radioactive waste than the standard method. However, the new process is not compatible with clinical production environments, where chemical separations have to be automated to maintain quality standards and protect technicians from radiation exposure.The work proposed here will enable us to test a prototype that can be used for automated, hands-free, processing of Lu-177 using our new separation method. The prototype will be tested with low, intermediate, and high levels of Lu-177, which will be subjected to full quality testing each time to verify that it meets standards for clinical use. With these experiments completed, we can begin to deploy this technology to facilities around the world to increase the global supply of this isotope.