Medicine:Radionuclide generator

From HandWiki

A radionuclide generator is a device which provides a local supply of a short-lived radioactive substance from the decay of a longer-lived parent radionuclide. They are commonly used in nuclear medicine to supply a radiopharmacy.[1] The generator provides a way to separate the desired product from the parent, typically in a process that can be repeated several times over the life of the parent.[2][3]

Use of a generator avoids the challenge of distributing short-lived radionuclides from the original production site (typically a nuclear reactor) to individual users; the loss of activity due to decay in transit can result in too little being supplied or the need for much larger initial quantities to be sent out (incurring additional production and transport costs).[4] An alternative to generators for on-site production of radionuclides is a cyclotron, though it is uncommon that the same radionuclide can be provided by both methods. It is feasible to have cyclotrons at larger centres, but they are much more expensive and complex than generators. In some cases a cyclotron is used to produce the parent radionuclide for a generator.[5]

Long-lived radionuclides which are administered to a patient with a view to utilising useful properties of a daughter product have been termed in-vivo generators, though they are not routinely used clinically.[6]

Commercial and experimental generators

Parent Daughter
Technetium generator 99Mo 99mTc
Rubidium generator 82Sr 82Rb
Gallium generator 68Ge 68Ga
Copper generator[2] 62Zn 62Cu
Krypton generator[2] 82Rb 81mKr
Yttrium generator[7] 90Sr 90Y
Rhenium generator[7] 188W 188Re

Further reading

References

  1. Rösch, F; Knapp, F F (2003). "Radionuclide Generators". in Vértes, Attila; Nagy, Sándor; Klencsár, Zoltan et al. (in en). Handbook of Nuclear Chemistry: Radiochemistry and radiopharmaceutical chemistry in life sciences. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9781402013164. https://books.google.com/books?id=0skQvMEa8EYC&pg=PA81. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Vallabhajosula, Shankar (2009) (in en). Molecular Imaging: Radiopharmaceuticals for PET and SPECT. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 56. ISBN 9783540767350. https://books.google.com/books?id=bUmcxfnlkt8C&pg=PA56. 
  3. Saha, Gopal B. (2010) (in en). Fundamentals of Nuclear Pharmacy. Springer. p. 67. ISBN 9781441958600. https://books.google.com/books?id=bEXqI4ACk-AC&pg=PA67. 
  4. Currie, GM; Wheat, JM; Davidson, R; Kiat, H (September 2011). "Radionuclide production". Radiographer 58 (3): 46–52. doi:10.1002/j.2051-3909.2011.tb00155.x. 
  5. IAEA (2008). Cyclotron produced radionuclides : principles and practice.. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency. ISBN 978-92-0-100208-2. https://www.iaea.org/publications/7849/cyclotron-produced-radionuclides-principles-and-practice. 
  6. Edem, Patricia E.; Fonslet, Jesper; Kjær, Andreas; Herth, Matthias; Severin, Gregory (2016). "In Vivo Radionuclide Generators for Diagnostics and Therapy". Bioinorganic Chemistry and Applications 2016: 1–8. doi:10.1155/2016/6148357. PMID 28058040. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 IAEA (2009). Therapeutic radionuclide generators : 90Sr/90Y and 188W/188Re generators.. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency. ISBN 978-92-0-111408-2. https://www.iaea.org/publications/8045/therapeutic-radionuclide-generators-90sr/90y-and-188w/188re-generators.