lasEr-driven Universal Radio-isOtope Production Accelerator
▶Summary
EUROPA envisions an innovative Artificial Radioisotope (ARI) production facility based on laser-plasma acceleration (LPA), leveraging its versatility to produce innovative radiopharmaceuticals for diagnosing and treating a wide range of cancers. For the first time, EUROPA will demonstrate that LPA can produce ARIs with sufficient activity (in Bq) and quality for medical research. This enables compact, easy-to-deploy ARI production units suitable for deployment in hospitals, offering a wide range of ARIs.Nuclear medicine is increasingly favored for cancer diagnosis and treatment, due to far fewer side effects than chemotherapy. However, it requires extensive preclinical investigations to study a broad array of ARIs to treat various types of cancer. Currently, ARIs are produced by a limited number of nuclear reactors and accelerators that cannot meet the rising demand for novel isotopes in nuclear medicine. LPA offers a highly versatile source of radiation (gamma rays) and particles (ions and neutrons) across a broad energy spectrum, making it a promising approach for generating the moderate activity levels required for innovative radiopharmaceutical applications. To demonstrate this potential, EUROPA focuses on two innovative pairs of theranostic ARI: 61Cu/67Cu and 43Sc/47Sc.The project aims to optimize LPA mechanisms to enhance the yield of accelerated particles within the desired energy range, while developing dedicated detectors to support proof-of-concept experiments for radioisotope production. Furthermore, EUROPA investigates ways to increase the laser repetition rate, thereby improving the average particle current—an essential step toward transitioning from scientific proof to technological application. Bringing together top experts in radiopharmaceuticals, LPA physics, nuclear science, and high-intensity lasers, EUROPA offers a disruptive, scalable ARI production technology, compact, easy to operate and dismantle, unlocking new applications and markets.