Optimizations of the mass-separated collection parameters for the medical radionuclide Sm-153

Medical radioisotopes are essential for a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic applications in nuclear medicine. Their production often requires radioactive isotopes with high specific activity and high radiochemical purity to ensure that patients can be treated safely and in a timely manner. However, radioisotope production presents a variety of challenges.

For example, some source materials may contain contaminating isotopes that compete with the desired medical radioisotope for labeling sites, potentially reducing the efficiency and quality of the final product. Mass-separated collection using the Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) technique offers a promising production route, as it enables the selection of relevant medical radioisotopes based on their mass-to-charge ratio.

Furthermore, the technique has the potential to achieve the required throughput for a wide variety of isotopes within relatively short collection periods. Consequently, it could contribute to improved resource utilization and more sustainable practices in nuclear medicine. This thesis will investigate the optimization of the mass-separated collection of the medical radioisotope Sm-153.

Particular focus will be placed on identifying the optimal beam-extraction and ionization parameters, as well as the limiting fluence, that influence collection efficiency. The work will include simulations using specialized computational codes to determine optimal collection strategies under practical constraints, such as the isotope half-life, activity levels, ion-beam currents, collection frequency, and transportation requirements.

The expected outcome is an optimized collection protocol that can support decision-making for future Sm-153 collections and provide recommendations for improving the currently limited separation efficiency.