Projects

In this project, we will develop the production and the study of the terbium (Tb) radioisotopes for use in nuclear medicine for both molecular imaging and targeted radionuclide therapy. Both techniques function in similar ways: a radioisotope is injected in the patient's body and directed to where it is needed, either by the body function (e.g. iodine for the thyroid) or by linking it to a vector molecule that responds to specific body ...

A novel treatment of cancer makes use of radio-isotopes coupled to a biological vector with the goal to selectively irradiate the tumor and limit damage to surrounding tissue. One possible isotope that can be used for this treatment is lutetium-177. This isotope can be produced by irradiation of a ytterbium-176 target. To use the produced lutetium it has to be separated from the target material. When dissolved in an aqueous solution they will ...

Radionuclides have a variety of medical applications as radiopharmaceuticals. The most significant and frequent use is in diagnostic imaging to visualize infected, cancerous or damaged areas (e.g. after a heart attack) in the body. More recently, therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals have gained more interest, particularly in cancer treatment, as the ionizing radiation can target and destroy harmful tumor cells in a precise and selective manner. ...

Resonance laser ionization does not only yield high efficiencies but also allows selective ionization of a specific element or isotope of interest. Currently, laser ionization is most commonly used in conjunction with a so-called hot cavity: a metal tube which is heated to temperatures of up to 2200 degrees Celsius. A drawback of this method is the efficiency of the cavity as a surface ion source. In some cases, when a sufficiently dense ...

In this project, the Versatile Arc Discharge and Laser Ion Source (VADLIS) will be studied and characterized, either with stable isotopes at the Leuven Isotope Separator (LIS) or with radioactive isotopes at the CERN MEDICIS facility, with the final aim of optimizing the production of medically relevant terbium isotopes within the Tb-IRMA-V project (KU Leuven, SCK CEN, CERN). These activities will include construction and assembly of ...

As part of the LISA (Laser Ionisation and Spectroscopy of Actinides) project, I am studying the nuclei of actinides. I shall quantify the properties of beams of actinium and radium radioisotopes produced with the isotope separation online (ISOL) technique. I will then optimise the target and ion source geometries to maximise the production and extraction of Ac-225. The findings may be used to provide a regular supply of Ac-225 from the CERN ...

Radioisotopes are frequently used nowadays for medical imaging, and increasingly for cancer treatment. Through a wide variety of decay properties, different techniques can be applied, such as PET, SPECT, or targeted treatment with alpha or beta radiation. At the CERN-MEDICIS facility, it is planned to improve access to medical radioisotopes for research in order to facilitate the study of new promising molecule-radioisotope combinations. One ...

Pure accelerated radioisotope beams have been used for 50 years in fundamental physics R&D, e.g. for nuclear structure studies (pear shaped exotic nuclei, Nature 2013); CERN-ISOLDE plays a central role in developing accelerator technologies and fostering collaborative approaches to advance this field of isotope mass separation online. Our most recent contribution was the use of nanomaterial targets for more intense and reliable beam ...

The properties of nuclei at the centre of atoms are determined by the interplay of the
fundamental forces of nature - strong, weak and electromagnetic. Unstable nuclei, with an
unusual number of protons and neutrons, can reveal hidden details of those interactions, beyond
what we can explain with current models. The properties of those systems are also crucial to
answer questions related to the origin of chemical ...