Sorption conditioning of eluate of 68Ge/68Ga generator for medical purposes

Technetium and Gallium Derived Radiopharmaceuticals: Comparing and Contrasting the Chemistry of Two Important Radiometals for the Molecular Imaging Era

“…For gallium-68, the parent isotope is germanium-68 with a half-life of 270.8 days, allowing the manufacturing of long-lived generator systems (theoretically useful for 1−2 years) suitable for radiopharmaceutical applications. In addition, the chemical properties of Ge(IV) and Ga(III) are sufficiently different such that several methods for efficient separation have been proposed. − One of the challenges with a 68 Ge/ 68 Ga generator is the lack of efficient production methods for 68 Ge, which is generated using high-energy accelerators via the (p, 2n) reaction on gallium targets. Targets typically accumulate 33 000−45 000 μA·h of beams during an irradiation period of 4 weeks, to produce 14.8−18.5 GBq (400−500 mCi) of 68 Ge.…”

“…A different approach for purification of 68 Ga is the use of organic, polymer-based stationary phases with high-affinity functionalities. A macroporous styrene−divinylbenzene copolymer with N -methylglucamine groups has been described recently. , 68 Ga is eluted with the low affinity chelator sodium citrate in good yields (∼80%), and the 68 Ge leakage is reported to be less than 0.0004%. Even though the styrene−divinylbenzene matrix remains intact if exposed to 3.9 × 10 6 Gy of radiation, loss of the polyol functionalites required for the binding of Ge(IV) is observed.…”

“…In addition, the chemical properties of Ge(IV) and Ga(III) are sufficiently different such that several methods for efficient separation have been proposed. [169][170][171][172][173] One of the challenges with a 68 Ge/ 68 Ga generator is the lack of efficient production methods for 68 Ge, which is generated using high-energy accelerators via the (p, 2n) reaction on gallium targets. Targets typically accumulate 33 000-45 000 µA • h of beams during an irradiation period of 4 weeks, to produce 14.8-18.5 GBq (400-500 mCi) of 68 Ge.…”