Patents by Inventor Harold A. O'Brien, Jr.

Harold A. O'Brien, Jr. has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 4487738
    Abstract: A method of producing carrier-free .sup.67 Cu by proton spallation combined with subsequent chemical separation and purification is disclosed. A target consisting essentially of pressed zinc oxide is irradiated with a high energy, high current proton beam to produce a variety of spallogenic nuclides, including .sup.67 Cu and other copper isotopes. The irradiated target is dissolved in a concentrated acid solution to which a palladium salt is added. In accordance with the preferred method, the spallogenic copper is twice coprecipitated with palladium, once with metallic zinc as the precipitating agent and once with hydrogen sulfide as the precipitating agent. The palladium/copper precipitate is then dissolved in an acid solution and the copper is separated from the palladium by liquid chromatography on an anion exchange resin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 1983
    Date of Patent: December 11, 1984
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy
    Inventors: Harold A. O'Brien, Jr., John W. Barnes, Wayne A. Taylor, Kenneth E. Thomas, Glenn E. Bentley
  • Patent number: 4298591
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to the radioiodination of rose bengal at room temperature and a cold-kit therefor. A purified rose bengal tablet is stirred into acidified ethanol at or near room temperature, until a suspension forms. Reductant-free .sup.125 I.sup.- is added and the resulting mixture stands until the exchange label reaction occurs at room temperature. A solution of sterile isotonic phosphate buffer and sodium hydroxide is added and the final resulting mixture is sterilized by filtration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 1979
    Date of Patent: November 3, 1981
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy
    Inventors: Harold A. O'Brien, Jr., Homer B. Hupf, Philip M. Wanek
  • Patent number: 4248730
    Abstract: Micro concentrations of .sup.68 Ga in secular equilibrium with .sup.68 Ge in strong aqueous HCl solution may readily be separated in ionic form from the .sup.68 Ge for biomedical use by evaporating the solution to dryness and then leaching the .sup.68 Ga from the container walls with dilute aqueous solutions of HCl or NaCl. The chloro-germanide produced during the evaporation may be quantitatively recovered to be used again as a source of .sup.68 Ga. If the solution is distilled to remove any oxidizing agents which may be present as impurities, the separation factor may easily exceed 10.sup.5. The separation is easily completed and the .sup.68 Ga made available in ionic form in 30 minutes or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 1979
    Date of Patent: February 3, 1981
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy
    Inventors: Saed Mirzadeh, Richard E. Whipple, Patrick M. Grant, Harold A. O'Brien, Jr.
  • Patent number: 3957945
    Abstract: Spallation reactions are induced in Mo targets with 200-800 MeV protons to produce microcurie to millicurie amounts of a variety of radionuclides. A six-step radiochemical procedure, incorporating precipitation, solvent extractions, and ion exchange techniques, has been developed for the separation and purification of Sr radioactivities from other spallation products and the bulk target material. Radiostrontium can be quantitatively recovered in a sufficiently decontaminated state for use in biomedical generator development.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 1974
    Date of Patent: May 18, 1976
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the United States Energy Research and Development Administration
    Inventors: Patrick M. Grant, Milton Kahn, Harold A. O'Brien, Jr.