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US 5,405,589 AGranted
Production of selenium-72 and arsenic-72
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorDennis R. Phillips
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus for producing selenium-72, separating it from its daughter isotope arsenic-72, and generating multiple portions of a solution containing arsenic-72 from a reusable parent substance comprised of selenium-72. The invention provides apparatus which can be located at a site where arsenic-72 is used, for purposes such as PET imaging, to produce arsenic-72 as needed, since the half-life of arsenic-72 is very short.
Claims3
A method of producing selenium isotopes comprising:
- a. exposing rubidium bromide to a proton beam of sufficient energy to cause spallation of the rubidium bromide for a time period sufficient for formation of selenium;
- b. dissolving said rubidium bromide and spallation products in hydrochloric acid to form a solution;
- c. adding hydrazine dihydrochloride to said solution;
- d. heating said solution with said additive until its volume is reduced to from about 30 to about 70% of the volume before heating is started;
- e. adding water to said volume-reduced solution as necessary to dissolve solid material which is not selenium which precipitates as said volume-reduced solution cools;
- and
- f. separating selenium in solid form from said cooled solution.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.