Gallium-68 generator
A Germanium-68/Gallium-68 Generator is a device used to extract the positron-emitting isotope 68Ga of gallium from a source of decaying germanium-68. The parent isotope 68Ge has a half-life of 271 days and can be easily utilized for in-hospital production of generator produced Ga-68. Its decay product gallium-68 (with a half-life of only 68 minutes, inconvenient for transport) is extracted and used for certain positron emission tomography nuclear medicine diagnostic procedures, where the radioisotope's relatively short half-life and emission of positrons for creation of 3-dimensional PET scans, are useful.
Contents
1 Parent isotope (Ge-68) source
2 Mechanism of generator function
3 Indications for gallium-68 PET scanning
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Parent isotope (Ge-68) source
The parent isotope germanium-68 is the longest-lived (271 days) of the radioisotopes of germanium. It has been produced by several methods.[1] In the U.S., it is primarily produced in proton accelerators: At Los Alamos National Laboratory, it may be separated out as a product of proton capture, after proton irradiation of Nb-encapsulated gallium metal.[2] At Brookhaven National Laboratories, 40 MeV proton irradiation of a gallium metal target produces germanium-68 by proton capture and double neutron knockout, from gallium-69 (the most common of two stable isotopes of gallium). This reaction is: Ga-69(p,2n)Ge-68.
A Russian source produces germanium-68 from accelerator-produced helium ion (alpha) irradiation of zinc-66, again after knockout of two neutrons, in the nuclear reaction Zn-66(α,2n)Ge-68.
Mechanism of generator function
When loaded with the parent isotope germanium-68, these generators function similarly to technetium-99m generators, in both cases using a process similar to ion chromatography. The stationary phase is either metal-free or alumina, TiO2 or SnO2, onto which germanium-68 is adsorbed. The use of metal-free columns allows direct labeling of Ga-68 without prepurification, hence making production of gallium-68-radiolabeled compounds more convenient. The mobile phase is a solvent able to elute (wash out) gallium-68 (III) (68Ga3+) after it has been produced by electron capture decay from the immobilized (absorbed) germanium-68.
Currently, such Ga-68 (III) is easily eluted with a few mL of 0.05 M, 0.1 M or 1.0 M hydrochloric acid from generators using metal-free tin dioxide [3] or titanium dioxide adsorbents, respectively, within 1 to 2 minutes. With generators of tin dioxide and titanium dioxide-based adsorbents, there remains more than an hour of pharmaceutical preparation to attach the gallium-68 (III) as a tracer to the pharmaceutical molecules DOTATOC or DOTA-TATE, so that the total preparation time for the resulting radiopharmaceutical is typically longer than the Ga-68 isotope half-life. This fact requires that these radiopharmaceuticals be made on-site in most cases, and the on-site generator is required to minimize the time losses.
Indications for gallium-68 PET scanning
Gallium 67 citrate salt imaging is useful for imaging old or sterile abscesses, and while Gallium 68 is useful in direct tumor imaging, especially leukocyte-derived malignancies and prostate cancer metastases.
See also
- Gallium-67 scan
- Isotopes of germanium
- Positron emission tomography
- Technetium-99m generator
References
^ Note on Ge-68 production methods in 1996. Accessed March 15, 2010
^ Bach, H. T.; Claytor, T. N.; Hunter, J. F.; Olivas, E. R.; Kelsey, C. T.; Connors, M. A.; Nortier, F. M.; Runde, W. H.; Modrell, C.; Lenz, J. W.; John, K. D. (15 March 2013). "Improving the survivability of Nb-encapsulated Ga targets for the production of Ge-68". Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms. 299: 32–41..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ Loc'h C, Mazièré B, Comar D (1980). "A new generator for ionic gallium-68". Journal of Nuclear Medicine. 21 (2): 171–3. PMID 6965408.
External links
[1] M.D. Anderson article on automated synthesis of tracer molecules from gallium-68 in as little as 20 minutes, for PET scan uses.
