Automatic scraper for radioactive substances

Abstract

An automatic scraper (1) for scraping a radioactive target (101) to be used for radiopharmaceuticals, said automatic scraper comprising a target holder (2) for holding a radioactive target; a scraping unit (3) comprising a scraping member for scraping a radioactive target located in the target holder; a receptacle (5) for receiving material scraped off from the radioactive target; a motor (6) for moving the scraping unit and the target holder relative each other; and a control unit for controlling the motor. The surface (102) of the radioactive target to be scraped is arranged to be angled between 45 and 315 degrees, 0 degrees angle corresponding to the radioactive target being oriented such that the surface of the radioactive target to be scraped is perpendicular to a vertical direction and facing upwards, the angle of the target corresponding to a clockwise turning of the target from 0 degrees.

Description

[0001] AUTOMATIC SCRAPER FOR RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

[0002] FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The invention relates to a scraper for disintegrating a radioactive substance from a solid material by scraping the solid material. The solid material is commonly present in the form of a plate. The scrapings originating from the radioactive material may than be further processed to refine the radioactive material. The process may be used for producing radioactive material for production of radioactive molecules or radiopharmaceuticals

[0004] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The invention is directed to the production and refining of radioactive material e.g. certain isotopes of atoms. The main use of these isotopes is for diagnostics and therapy in biomedicine. In order to prepare radioactive molecules or radiopharmaceuticals, there is a need to prepare the radioactive material to be used with the molecules to be labelled with radioactive material to form radioactive labelled molecules. In many cases, the radioactive material is provided as plates which has been irradiated in cyclotrons to become radioactive and include radionuclides. Cyclotrons for biomedical radionuclide production are generally compact, accelerate light ions (proton, deuteron or helium nuclei) and are primarily used to produce short-lived, proton-rich radionuclides. A plate prepared in this way is commonly referred to as target plate or simply target.

[0006] The refining and preparing of radioactive material from target plates have been mainly performed by manual methods. There are however some automated methods known for refining radioactive material from target plates. In WO 2015 / 195 042, a system and method for automatic production of radionuclide labelled molecules including refining of the radionuclide are disclosed. The radionuclide used in WO 2015 / 195 042 is Astatine-211 (At- 211), which is an alpha emitting radionuclide suitable for nuclear medicine applications, e.g. for treatment of metastatic cancer. At-211 is a rare nuclide and has to be synthesised artificially to be present in sufficient amounts to be useful in nuclear medicine applications. The general route for producing the At-211 is by irradiating stable bismuth in a cyclotron. After the irradiation, At-211 has to be converted to a chemically useful form, e.g. by wet extraction or by dry distillation of the irradiated target material, and subjected to chemical coupling reactions to be used as a component in radiopharmaceuticals.

[0007] In general, the amount of bismuth converted to Astatine-211 in the irradiated bismuth target plate is only a small fraction of the whole plate. By scraping off the outer layer of the target, which contains the radionuclide of interest, the efficiency of the subsequent refining process is improved. The scraping removes the need to subject the complete target to further refinement and processing, allowing a more concentrated portion, with a greater surface area to volume ratio, be subjected to refining processes. The use of a more concentrated starting material when performing further purification steps will reduce time and / or resources such as amount of chemicals, heating operations and other operations needed to refine the At-211. WO 2015 / 195 042 discloses an automated method and system for purification of radionuclides and synthesis of radiopharmaceuticals. However, there is still a desire to improve the process. Since the radionuclides are radioactive, it is important to prevent radionuclides from escaping in an uncontrolled way from the system during the process, to safeguard that there is no contamination to the surroundings. The radionuclides should be taken care of in an appropriate way in order to reduce radiation damage to persons working with the system and to provide a good yield of available radionuclides to be used.

[0008] Hence, the present invention aims at providing an increased safety and improved yield of radionuclides.

[0009] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The invention relates to an automatic scraper for scraping a radioactive target in order to use the scrapings comprising of radioactive material for radiopharmaceuticals or radioactive molecules. The radioactive target can be made of different kinds of materials but is in general a metal where irradiation has affected the material to comprise another isotope or element than was originally present in the material.

[0011] The automatic scraper is thus suitably used for removing and collecting irradiated material from cyclotron targets and comprises equipment for scraping off and efficiently collecting the irradiated layer of a cyclotron target containing a desired radionuclide. Certain radionuclides, e.g. At-211, are produced in cyclotrons. In this process, a raw material contained on a cyclotron target is converted into the desired radionuclide through irradiation of the target using a cyclotron beam comprised of alpha particles, deuterons or protons. The desired radionuclide is hence produced on the surface of the cyclotron target. After irradiation of the cyclotron target, and the formation of the desired radionuclide, it is desirable to isolate the irradiated layer from the rest of the target. This can improve the efficiency of further radionuclide purification processes such as dry distillation and wet chemistry. The automated scraper described herein is user friendly and safe, and allows for a high yielding subsequent radionuclide isolation method to from the cyclotron target. Even though the automatic scraper is generally exemplified for scraping off an irradiated layer of a cyclotron target, it is of course possible to use targets prepared in other ways in the automatic scraper.

[0012] The automatic scraper comprises a number of different features among which is a target holder for holding a radioactive target having a surface to be scraped. The radioactive target to be used is generally a piece of material having an essentially flat surface, such as a metal block. The holder's function is to keep the target steady when being scraped.

[0013] The scraper also includes a scraping unit comprising a scraping member for scraping a radioactive target located in the target holder. The scraping member may be any one of a blade, a plurality of blades, a rasp, a file and sand paper. In particular embodiments, the scraping member is a blade. A plurality of blades may be arranged similarly to the blades of a multi-bladed shaving razor, the blades configured to scrape the radioactive target simultaneously. A rasp or a file comprises a plurality of teeth, the teeth may be configured to scrape the radioactive target simultaneously. Sand paper comprises a plurality of grains, the grains may be configured to scrape the radioactive target simultaneously.

[0014] From hereon, the scraping member will be referred to as a blade, unless otherwise stated. However, it is to be appreciated that the blade may be replaced with a plurality of blades, a rasp, a file or sand paper, mutatis mutandis.

[0015] The scraping unit is arranged to be able to move relative to the surface of the target while removing material from the target and forming "scrapings" comprising the desired radioactive material. Scrapings thus refers to material scraped off from the target.

[0016] The scraper further comprises a receptacle for receiving the scrapings. The receptacle can be made of different materials. Glass, in particular quartz glass, may be used as the material for the receptacle allowing the material in the receptacle to be visually detected while also being an inert material that will not react with the scrapings originating from the target and withstanding heating if the scrapings are to be further processed in the receptacle.

[0017] The scraper also includes a motor for moving the scraping unit and the target holder relative each other. Most commonly used is a target holder which keeps the target in a fixed position while the scraping unit with its blade is moving across the surface of the target.

[0018] The scraper includes a control unit for controlling the motor. The control unit may be more or less sophisticated. In a basic version the control unit may be a simple switch which is manually activated to turn on and turn off the motor for moving the scraping unit and the target holder relative each other such that the blade of the scraping unit moves along the surface of the target so as to form scrapings. In more sophisticated designs of the control unit, it may comprise preprogramed moving patterns of the scraping unit and / or include options to control the scraper to move in different directions along the surface of the target as well as controlling the pressure by which the blade is pressed against the surface of the target, lifting the blade from the surface of the target or changing the attack angle of the blade versus the surface to be scraped.

[0019] In order to improve the scraping process and transfer of the scrapings originating from the target into the receptacle, the target plate is arranged such that the surface of the target to be scraped is leaning. The surface to be scraped is arranged to be angled between 45 and 315 degrees where 0 degrees angle corresponds to the target being oriented such that the surface of the target to be scraped is perpendicular to a vertical direction and facing upwards. The angle of the target corresponds to a clockwise turning of the target. By having an inclined surface of the target to be scraped it will allow gravity to act upon scraped off material such that scraped off material falls down into the receptacle by aid of gravity. The target usually has an essentially flat surface to be scraped.

[0020] When the inclination angle of the surface of the target is within the intervals of O to 90 degrees and 270 to 360 degrees, the inclination angle will be referred to as a positive angle. By positive angle it is meant that an object which is affected by gravity will follow the surface of the target while striving to move downwards by the action of gravity. An inclination angle above 90 and below 270 degrees will be referred to as a negative angle. By negative angle it is meant that an inclination angle exists at which an object on the surface to be scraped will lose contact with the surface and fall straight down from the surface when affected by gravity. Hence, a lose object on the surface of the target to be scraped, which not is affected by adhesive forces or friction from the target plate, will move along the surface of the target when the inclination angle is positive, i.e. between 0 to 90 degrees and 270 to 360 degrees, while the object will fall off the surface when the inclination angle is negative, i.e. above 90 and below 270 degrees.

[0021] In case the angle is positive, the scrapings will in general follow the surface of the target until it reaches a lower edge of the target and drop into the receptacle. This arrangement has the advantage of having the same drop off point for the scrapings, i.e. at the lower edge of the target, regardless of where the material is scraped off from the target. On the other hand, by having a negative inclination angle, the scrapings will fall off from the target plate directly when scraped off and there will thus not be a risk for the scrapings to be dislocated laterally while rolling or gliding along the surface of the target as when the inclination angle is negative.

[0022] The blade and the target may be arranged so that an edge of the blade makes contact with a surface of the target at an attack angle from 80 to 100 degrees versus the target surface; preferably, 85 to 95 degrees; most preferably, about 90 degrees.

[0023] The automatic scraper may be designed to further comprise a shield plate moving with the blade and scraping unit. The shield plate is arranged in parallel with and close to the target surface in front of the blade and prevents stray scrapings from deviating from a desired path leading to the receptacle for receiving the scrapings. In particular, the shield plate is intended to prevent scrapings from popping away from the target's surface as the scrapings are being cut off from the target.

[0024] The automatic scraper may also include a funnel arrangement for gathering the scrapings / scraped material when leaving the target surface to be guided via the funnel into the receptacle for receiving material scraped off from the target. The funnel arrangement shall be used close to the landing spot to guide stray scrapings. Hence, the funnel arrangement will serve to reduce the risk for scrapings falling outside the receptacle.

[0025] The funnel arrangement may be designed to have an opening corresponding to the length of the blade.

[0026] The automatic scraper may also include features specifically designed for controlling the lifting and lowering of the blade of the scraping unit. The scraping unit and its blade may be adjusted to be lowered to make contact with the target surface and to be lifted to be removed from the target surface by using a guide defining positions where the blade is caused to be lowered and lifted as the scraping unit moves along the target. By adjusting the guide or using different guides, the target area to be scraped can be adjusted. The use of guides provides for a robust and exact control of the lowering and lifting operation of the scraping unit. A guide is designed to mechanically influence the scraping unit to be lowered or lifted. The guide may for example be a cut out in a plate or a rail. The guide forms part of the fixed structure of the automatic scraper and is designed to interact with a part, e.g. a bolt, forming part of the moving scraping unit. By using an adjustable guide, or using different guides, the lowering and lifting of the blade may be adjusted.

[0027] The blade of the scraping unit could also be adjusted to be lowered to make contact with the target surface and to be lifted to be removed from the target surface by the use of a programable control unit. By programming the control unit to control the motor or actuators to cause the blade to be lowered and lifted at desired positions, a versatile and precise scraping of the surface of the target is achieved. In this case, the moving pattern of the scraping unit may be quickly shifted between different preprogramed scraping sequences.

[0028] The scraping process may be controlled such that the blade is lowered with the purpose to make contact with, and lifted with the purpose to be removed from, the target surface based on the positioning of the active region of the target. In this way, the concentration of the desired radionuclide in the scrapings can be increased compared to random scraping or scraping the complete surface of a target. The regions of the target plate to be scraped may either be predefined to scrape the surface where a target usually have the highest concentration of the desired radionuclide or by using detectors for identifying the areas of the target where the concentration of the desired radionuclide is highest.

[0029] The target holder may be removable such that it can be detached from the automatic scraper. This feature will make it easier to insert the target into the target holder.

[0030] The automatic scraper may be designed such that the contact pressure between the blade and the target is adjustable by providing the blade and / or target with a spring arrangement in order to provide a force working in a direction for bringing the blade and target towards each other. By having a spring arrangement, the contact force between the blade and the target can be kept at a similar pressure also when there should be some small differences in the distance between the scraping unit and he target. A spring arrangement will also compensate for irregularities in the target surface to be scraped.

[0031] In order to optimize the scraping of the target, the contact pressure between the blade and the target may be controlled. The preload of the contact force causing the blade and target towards each other is adjustable. In the case of using a spring arrangement, the spring coefficient or spring load may be adjusted. Alternatively, or in addition to control the spring load, the contact force between the blade and the target may be adjustable by controlling the lowering and lifting of the blade from the target surface to provide a desired force. By controlling the contact force between the target and the blade, the arrangement may be adapted to the use of different material and thicknesses of the target to be scraped.

[0032] The blade can also be arranged to adapt for undesired off set between the target plate and the blade. The blade may be arranged to pivot to self-adjust for angle off set of the surface of the target and adapt the cutting edge of the blade to be in contact with the target along its length. This may for example be achieved by a spring arrangement. It is of course also possible to allow the target or target holder to be provided with such an arrangement instead.

[0033] The attack angle of the blade can be adjustable. By attack angle is meant the leaning of the blade relative the surface of the target which may be set to different angles. In general, the attack angle is adjusted to be 90 degrees.

[0034] The automatic scraper may be provided with further arrangements in order to facilitate the collection of scrapings into the receptacle. The receptacle for receiving material scraped off from the target can be provided with an air recirculation arrangement for withdrawal of scrapings into the receptacle. By having a recirculating air stream, it is avoided that any scrapings which may be withdrawn by the air stream will leak out into the environment.

[0035] In order to collect the scrapings from the target into the receptacle, a number of features can be designed to cooperate properly. One way is to design the blade such that its relative horizontal position versus the blade position is the same. Hence, in this case, the receptacle and any possible funnel arrangement cooperating with the receptacle will be arranged to move along with the blade such that the receptacle is located at the same position in relation to the blade. This arrangement is in particular intended to be useful when the target surface is arranged to have a negative inclination and the scrapings will fall down directly where they are scraped off from the surface of the target.

[0036] The blade and the target move relative each other. This may be achieved by arranging the blade to be moving while the target holder is kept in a fixed position or by moving the target holder while the blade is kept in a fixed position. It is of course also possible to allow both the target holder and blade to move simultaneously, though such an arrangement in general will be more costly.

[0037] The automatic scraper may be designed such that the target holder, scraper and receptacle are contained in an air tight casing. This will reduce the risk of radioactive material escaping from the automatic scraper during scraping and thus improve safety. Such a casing can be made from a material that protects from radiation in order to also protect operators from radiation.

[0038] The automatic scraper may be a standalone apparatus or may form part of a refining system for further treatment and purification of the radioactive scrapings originating from the target. Processing and refinement of the desired radioactive substance may for example be performed by dry distillation of the scrapings or wet methods which are performed in a system including the automatic scraper. By including the scraper in such a refinement system, the time for producing a refined product may be reduced as well as an increased safety and reduced risk of continuation of radioactive material to the environment. Hence, the scrapings can be automatically transferred for further downstream processing by a refining system. Such a system may for example include the feature of automatically moving the receptacle in order to transfer the scrapings comprised therein to the system for further treatment and purification of the radioactive scrapings. The automatic scraper described herein could for example be used in such a system as disclosed in WO 2015 / 195 042.

[0039] The invention also relates to a method for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals. The method comprises arranging a radioactive target to be held in the target holder of an automatic scraper according to an embodiment of the invention described above. The method further comprises moving the scraping unit relative to the radioactive target so that the blade of the scraping unit scrapes off radioactive material from the radioactive target. The method also comprises collecting the scraped off radioactive material in the receptable.

[0040] Moving the scraping unit relative to the radioactive target so that the blade of the scraping unit scrapes off radioactive material from the radioactive target may comprise moving the scraping unit towards the radioactive target so that the blade makes contact with a target surface of the radioactive target; moving the scraping unit parallel to the target surface so that the blade scrapes against the target surface, thereby scraping off radioactive material from the radioactive target; and moving the scraping unit away from the radioactive target so that the blade breaks contact from the target surface.

[0041] The radioactive target can be made of different kinds of materials but is in general a metal where irradiation has affected the material to comprise another isotope or element than was originally present in the material.

[0042] Collecting the scraped off radioactive material in the receptable may comprise arranging the receptacle beneath the radioactive target; and arranging the radioactive target so that gravity acting upon scraped off radioactive material causes the scraped off radioactive material to fall down into the receptacle.

[0043] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0044] The foregoing and other aspects of the present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the following figures.

[0045] FIG. 1 discloses a schematic drawing of an automatic scraper

[0046] FIG. 2 discloses desired leaning angles of the surface of the target to be scraped

[0047] FIG. 3 discloses a schematic drawing of a second embodiment of an automatic scraper

[0048] FIG. 4 discloses an isometric view of a protype of an automatic scraper DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0049] In figure 1 the features of an automatic scraper 1 are disclosed schematically. The automatic scraper 1 is intended to be used for scraping off material from the surface 102 of a radioactive target 101. The radioactive target 101 may be made of any suitable material from which it is desired to form "scrapings" by scraping and separating material from radioactive target 101 along the surface 102. In general, the targets 101 are rectangular shaped pieces two dimensions (e.g. length and width) larger than their third dimensions (e.g. thickness) and having a flat surface. The target 101 can consist of a single bulk material or layers of two or more materials. In one embodiment, the target 101 consist of a first layer composed from material selected to serve distinct nuclear transmutation reactions during irradiation and a second layer of carrier material. In another embodiment, target 101 consists of a first thin layer of material to provide means to e.g. beam degradation, mechanical stability and / or activated material enclosure, a second layer composed from material selected to serve distinct nuclear transmutation reactions during irradiation and a third layer of carrier material. In another embodiment, there are additional material layers applied to support e.g. mechanical stability including layer adhesion between materials, thermal conductivity and distinct material properties in respect to nuclear transmutations, for example. Materials forming different layer combinations may include but are not limited to metals, ceramics and composite materials (able to withstand elevated temperatures during irradiation).

[0050] Therefore, "scrapings" defined as material scraped off the target 101 by the scraping process may encompass single or multiple materials pending the embodiment of target 101 under use.

[0051] The automatic scraper 1 comprises a target holder 2 for holding a radioactive target 101. The target holder 2 can be designed to comprise a cut out into which the radioactive target 101 can be fitted. The target holder 2 is in this case designed to hold the radioactive target 101 in a position such that the surface 102 is vertical. At the lower end of the target holder 2 is a receptacle 5 located for collecting material being scraped off, so called scrapings, from the radioactive target 101.

[0052] The automatic scraper 1 further comprises a scraping unit 3 comprising a blade 4 for scraping off material from the surface 102 of the radioactive target 101. The blade 4 is arranged to have an edge with an attack angle of 90 degrees versus the planar target surface 102. However, the blade may be arranged to have different attack angles. In some examples, attack angle may be from 80 to 100 degrees versus the planar target surface 102. In other examples the attack angle may be from 85 to 95 degrees.

[0053] The automatic scraper 1 also includes a motor 6 for moving the scraping unit 3 and scrape the surface 102 of the target 101. In order to control the motor 6, and thus the movement of the scraping unit 3, there is a control unit 7 connected to the motor 6. In the following, when describing how a scraping may be performed, lowering of the blade 4 or scraping unit 3 means the blade 4 will move towards the target surface 102 and lifting of the blade 4 or scraping unit 3 means the blade 4 will move away from the target surface 102. The automatic scraper 1 is intended to work in such a way that the blade 4 is lowered and will make contact with and scrape the target surface 102 when the scraping unit 3 is moving downwards and the blade 4 will be lifted and removed from the target surface 102 when the scraping unit 3 moves upwards. Hence, according to one example of a scraping cycle, the blade 4 will be lowered to make contact with the target surface 102 at a starting point in the upper region of the radioactive target 101 whereafter the scraping unit 3 will move downwards while the blade is in contact with the target surface 102 until a stopping point in the lower region of the radioactive target 101 is reached. At the stopping point, the blade 4 will be lifted from the target surface 102 and the scraping unit 3 can be returned to the same or another starting point in the upper region of the radioactive target 101. When the scraping unit 3 has reached the starting point, the blade 4 is lowered to make contact with the target surface 102 and a new scraping cycle can begin as the scraping unit 3 moves downwards. Hence, the blade 4 of the scraping unit 3 can be adjusted to be lowered to make contact with the target surface 102 and to be lifted to be removed from the target surface 102 by programming the control unit 7 to cause the blade 4 to be lowered and lifted at desired positions by controlling the motor 6 or separate actuators. The motor 6 may thus be designed to perform the lifting and lowering of the scraping unit 3 in addition to moving the scraping unit 3 along the radioactive target 101. Alternatively, there may be additional features such as guides or separate actuators which are dedicated to lift and lowerthe scraping unit 3. The control of the lowering and lifting of the scraping unit 3 may be based on which regions of the target 101 that are most active such that areas where the most radioactive material is present will be scraped.

[0054] The scraping can be fully automatic or semiautomatic. By fully automatic it is meant that the motor 6 is fully controlled by the control unit 7 such that it will perform a predefined number of scraping cycles with predefined starting and stopping points when the automatic scraper is turned on. By semiautomatic it is meant that the lifting / lowering of the blade 4 and / or moving the scraping unit 3 upwards / downwards can be controlled manually via a control panel (not shown). The fully automatic programs can be preprogramed at the factory or be programmed on site to provide tailor made programs for specific users.

[0055] The radioactive target 101 is located in figure 1 such that the target surface 102 is vertical. By arranging the target surface 102 to be vertical, it is ensured that the scrapings will easily fall of the radioactive target 101 and into the receptacle 5. However, the target holder 2 may be designed and arranged in the automatic scraper 1 such that the target surface 102 has other inclinations.

[0056] In figure 2 it is disclosed how the target holder 2 may be designed and arranged in the automatic scraper 1. The target holder 2 shall be arranged such that the surface 102 of the radioactive target 101 to be scraped is arranged to be angled between 45 and 315 degrees where 0 degrees angle corresponds to the radioactive target 101 being oriented such that its surface 102 to be scraped is horizontal and facing upwards at 0 degrees angle and the angle of the target corresponding to a clockwise turning of the target. The radioactive target shall be positioned in this way in order to allow gravity to act upon scraped off material, i.e. scrapings, such that the scrapings fall down into the receptacle 5 (see figure 1) by aid of gravity.

[0057] The target holder 2 with a target 101 is disclosed in three different positions, "A", "B" and "C", in figure 2. Position "A" corresponds to the position of the target holder 2 disclosed in figure 1 in which the target surface 102 is vertical and has been turned 270 degrees clockwise from the position where the target surface 102 is horizontal and facing upwards. Position "B" corresponds to a position of the target holder 2 where the target surface 102 is angled 45 degrees when the target holder is turned clockwise from a starting position at 0 degrees angle where the target surface 102 to be scraped is horizontal and facing upwards. Position "B" defines one of the end points where the inclination of the target surface 102 is considered to be in a suitable leaning. If the angle is less than 45 degrees the surface is considered to not lean enough to provide a desired falling down of the scrapings into the receptacle colleting the scrapings. The inclination angle of the target surface 102 will be sufficient from 45 degrees, corresponding to position "B", to 315 degrees, corresponding to position "C", when the target holder is turned clockwise from the starting position at 0 degrees as defined above.

[0058] In addition to arranging the target holder 2 in the automatic scraper 1 so as to provide a desired inclination of the target surface 102, there are further features which may be added in order to improve the collecting of scrapings. In figure 3, which discloses all the features from figure 1, a shield plate 8 has been added to the automatic scraper 1. The shield plate 8 is arranged in front of the blade 4 and moves with the blade as the blade scrapes off material when the scraping unit 3 moves downward. The shield plate 8 prevents stray scrapings from deviating from a desired path and guide stray scrapings to be directed to the receptacle 5.

[0059] The automatic scraper 1 in figure 3 also comprises a funnel arrangement 9 which is designed to gather scrapings falling down such that they will be directed to the receptacle 5.

[0060] Figure 3 further discloses a spring arrangement 41 in order to provide a force working in a direction for bringing the blade 4 and target 101 towards each other. This arrangement will enable to control the contact pressure between the blade 4 and the target 101 by loosening or tightening the spring arrangement 41. Hence, the preload of the of the contact force causing the blade 4 and target 101 towards each other can be adjustable by controlling the force from the spring arrangement. The contact force between the blade 4 and the target 101 can also be adjusted by controlling the lowering and lifting of the blade from the target surface 102 to provide a desired force. By providing an adjustable force between the blade 4 and target 101 it will be possible to set the force by which the blade engages with the target surface 102 at a suitable level to provide for an efficient scraping removing a desired amount of material while also avoiding the pressure being too high such that the blade 4 will cut too deep and get stuck or making undesired "jumps" while scraping.

[0061] Figures 1 to 3 thus disclose the automatic scraper 1 in a schematic way. In figure 4, an isometric view of a prototype of an automatic scraper 1 is disclosed. In this figure, a casing has been removed, except for one side wall, in order to reveal the interior of the automatic scraper 1. The automatic scarper in figure 4 comprises a target holder 2, a scraping unit 3, a blade 4, a receptacle 5, a motor 6 and a control unit 7. In the target holder 2, a cut out is present into which a radioactive target 101 has been inserted and the blade 4 is lowered and in contact with the target surface 102. In this case, the control unit 7 is an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) located with the motor 6 in a casing.

[0062] There is also a shield plate 8 present which is located in front of the blade 4. The shield plate 4 serves to keep the scrapings close to the target surface 102 and prevent the scrapings from popping away in undesired directions.

[0063] A funnel arrangement 9 comprising a funnel opening 13 is also present. The funnel opening is preferably designed such that the length of the opening is corresponding to the length of the blade 4. By corresponding it is meant the length of the opening shall have the same length or being longer than the length of the blade 4.

[0064] In the prototype disclosed in figure 4, the lowering and lifting of the scraping unit 3 is controlled by a guide 10. In figure 4 is only shown one side of the automatic scraper comprising a guide 10. However, in the prototype, there is a guide present also in the opposite side (not shown). In order to make the scraping unit 3 to follow the guide 10, the scraping unit 3 has been provided with guiding bolts 11 which are designed to fit into the void space of the guide 10. The guiding bolts 11 will thus follow the contour of the guide such that the blade will be lifted and lowered as it moves along the target 101 depending on the design of the guide. In this case, it can be seen that the void space of the guide 10 is wider in the central region, having a shorter distance from the edge of the guide 10 to the target holder 2 than at the narrower sections of the guide at the respective ends. The guide can be designed to be exchangeable or adjustable such that the positions defining where the blade 4 is caused to be lowered to make contact with the target surface 102 and to be lifted to be removed from the target surface 102 can be altered. For example, if targets of different sizes are used, there could be different guides to be used for the different targets.

[0065] The target holder 2 can be designed to be removable to be detached from the automatic scraper 1 in an easy manner in order to facilitate the insertion of a target in the target holder 2.

[0066] Further, a swivel bolt 12 is shown, which forms part of the scraping unit 3. The swivel bolt 3 extends vertically through the housing of the scraping unit 3. The blade 4 is pivotally connected to the swivel bolt 12. By allowing the blade 4 to pivot around the swivel bolt 12, the blade 4 can self-adjust for angle off set of the target surface 102 and adapt the cutting edge of the blade 4 to be in contact with the target along its length. Hence, if the target surface 102 should be somewhat askew, e.g. one of its lateral sides being somewhat closer to the blade than its other lateral side, the blade can self-adjust by swiveling around the swivel bolt 12 such that the edge of the blade 4 will be in contact with the target surface 102 along its length. Without this feature, the blade 4 will not adapt to scrape over the whole length of the edge if the target 2 is placed in the wrong way in the holder.

[0067] The automatic scraper 1 is preferably enclosed by a casing (not shown) such that the target holder 2, scraper 3 and receptacle 5 are contained in the casing. The casing is preferably made air tight such that no scrapings may escape to surroundings while the radioactive target 101 is scraped. A casing will also help in preventing scrapings from falling down outside the funnel arrangement 9 since it will prevent undesired flow disturbances from surrounding air. The casing could also be made from radiation protective material to reduce radiation exposure to the ones operating the automatic scraper 1. It should be appreciated that the invention may be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

Claims

CLAIMS1. An automatic scraper (1) for scraping a radioactive target (101) to be used for radiopharmaceuticals, said automatic scraper (1) comprising• a target holder (2) for holding a radioactive target (101)• a scraping unit (3) comprising a scraping member for scraping a radioactive target (101) located in the target holder (2)• a receptacle (5) for receiving material scraped off from the radioactive target (101)• a motor (6) for moving the scraping unit (3) and the target holder (2) relative each other• a control unit (7) for controlling the motor (6) characterized in that a surface (102) of the radioactive target (101) to be scraped is arranged to be angled between 45 and 315 degrees, 0 degrees angle corresponding to the radioactive target (101) being oriented such that the surface (102) of the radioactive target (101) to be scraped is perpendicular to a vertical direction and facing upwards at 0 degrees angle and the angle of the target corresponding to a clockwise turning of the target, (in order to allow gravity to act upon scraped off material such that scraped off material falls down into the receptacle by aid of gravity.)2. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to claim 1, wherein the scraping member is one of a blade (4), a plurality of blades, a rasp, a file and sand paper.

3. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to claim 2, wherein the scraping member is one of: a plurality of blades configured to scrape the radioactive target (101) simultaneously; a rasp or a file comprising a plurality of teeth configured to scrape the radioactive target (101) simultaneously; and sand paper comprising a plurality of grains configured to scrape the radioactive target (101) simultaneously.

4. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to claim 2, wherein the scraping member is a blade (4) for scraping the radioactive target (101).

5. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any one of claims 1 to 4, where the automatic scraper (1) is able to separate layers of single materials and layer combinations of multiple materials from the radioactive target (101).

6. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the scraping member and the target surface (102) are arranged so that an edge of the scraping member makes contact with the target surface (102) at an attack angle from 80 to 100 degrees versus the target surface (102); preferably, 85 to 95 degrees; most preferably, about 90 degrees.

7. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that the scraping unit (3) further comprises a shield plate (8) moving with the scraping member, said shield plate (8) arranged in front of the scraping member in order to guide stray scrapings.

8. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any previous claim characterized in that there is a funnel arrangement (9) for gathering the scrapings / scraped material when leaving the target surface (102) to be guided via the funnel arrangement (9) into the receptacle (5) for receiving material scraped off from the radioactive target (101).

9. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any previous claim characterized in that the scraping member of the scraping unit (3) is adjusted to be lowered to make contact with the target surface (102) and to be lifted to be removed from the target surface (102) by using a guide (10) defining positions where the scraping member is caused to be lowered and lifted.

10. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any one of claims 1 to 8 characterized in that the scraping member of the scraping unit (3) is adjusted to be lowered to make contact with a target surface (102) and to be lifted to be removed from the target surface (102) by programming the control unit (7) to cause the scraping member to be lowered and lifted at desired positions by controlling the motor (7) or separate actuators.

11. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any of claims 9 or 10, characterized in that the scraping member is lowered to make contact with and lifted to be removed from the target surface (102) based on the position of the active region of the target (101).

12. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any previous claim characterized in that the target holder (2) is removable and can be detached from the automatic scraper (1).

13. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any previous claim characterized in that the contact pressure between the scraping member and the target (101) is adjustable by providing thescraping member and / or target with a spring arrangement (41) in order to provide a force working in a direction for bringing the scraping member and target (101) towards each other.

14. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any previous claim characterized in that the preload of the of the contact force causing the scraping member and target towards each other (spring arrangement) is adjustable.

15. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any previous claim characterized in that the contact force between the scraping member and the target (101) is adjustable by controlling the lowering and lifting of the scraping member from the target surface (102) to provide a desired force.

16. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any previous claim characterized in that the scraping member may pivot around a swivel bolt (12) to self-adjust for angle off set of the surface of the target and adapt the cutting edge of the scraping member to be in contact with the target along its length.

17. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any previous claim characterized in that the attack angle of the scraping member is adjustable.

18. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any previous claim characterized in that the receptacle (5) for receiving material scraped off from the target (101) is provided with an air recirculation arrangement for withdrawal of scrapings into the receptacle.

19. An automatic scraper for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to claim 8 characterized in that the funnel arrangement (9) is designed to have an opening (91) corresponding to the length of the scraping member.

20. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any previous claim characterized in that the receptacle (5) is designed to cooperate with the scraping member such that its relative horizontal position versus the scraping member position is the same.

21. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any previous claim characterized in that the scraping member is moving while the target holder (2) is kept in a fixed position.

22. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any previous claim characterized in that the target holder (2) is moving while the scraping member is kept in a fixed position23. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any previous claim characterized in that the target holder (2), scraper (3) and receptacle (5) are contained in a casing.

24. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to claim 23 characterized in that the casing is made to be air tight.

25. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to any previous claim characterized in that the automatic scraper (1) forms part of a refining system for further treatment and purification of the radioactive scrapings originating from the target (101).

26. An automatic scraper (1) for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to claim 25 characterized in that the scrapings are automatically transferred for further downstream processing by the refining system.

27. A method for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals, the method comprising: arranging a radioactive target (101) to be held in the target holder (2) of an automatic scraper (1) according to any previous claim; moving the scraping unit (3) relative to the radioactive target (101) so that the scraping member of the scraping unit (3) scrapes off radioactive material from the radioactive target (101); and collecting the scraped off radioactive material in the receptable (5).

28. A method for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to claim 27, wherein moving the scraping unit (3) relative to the radioactive target (101) so that the scraping member of the scraping unit (3) scrapes off radioactive material from the radioactive target (101) comprises: moving the scraping unit (3) towards the radioactive target (101) so that the scraping member makes contact with a target surface (102) of the radioactive target (101); moving the scraping unit (3) parallel to the target surface (102) so that the scraping member scrapes against the target surface (102), thereby scraping off radioactive material from the radioactive target (101); and moving the scraping unit (3) away from the radioactive target (101) so that the scraping member breaks contact from the target surface (102).

29. A method for preparing radioactive material to be used for radiopharmaceuticals according to claim 27 or claim 28, wherein collecting the scraped off radioactive material in the receptable (5) comprises: arranging the receptacle (5) beneath the radioactive target (101); and arranging the radioactive target (101) so that gravity acting upon scraped off radioactive material causes the scraped off radioactive material to fall down into the receptacle.

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