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. 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.
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). 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.
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.
Commercial and experimental generators
| Parent | Daughter | |
|---|---|---|
| Technetium generator | Mo | Tc |
| Rubidium generator | Sr | Rb |
| Gallium generator | Ge | Ga |
| Copper generator | Zn | Cu |
| Krypton generator | Rb | Kr |
| Yttrium generator | Sr | Y |
| Rhenium generator | W | Re |
Further reading
- IAEA. "Generator Module". Human Health Campus. International Atomic Energy Agency.
References
- Rösch, F; Knapp, F F (2003). "Radionuclide Generators". In Vértes, Attila; Nagy, Sándor; Klencsár, Zoltan; Lovas, Rezső G. (eds.). Handbook of Nuclear Chemistry: Radiochemistry and radiopharmaceutical chemistry in life sciences. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9781402013164.
- ^ Vallabhajosula, Shankar (2009). Molecular Imaging: Radiopharmaceuticals for PET and SPECT. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 56. ISBN 9783540767350.
- Saha, Gopal B. (2010). Fundamentals of Nuclear Pharmacy. Springer. p. 67. ISBN 9781441958600.
- 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.
- IAEA (2008). Cyclotron produced radionuclides : principles and practice. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency. ISBN 978-92-0-100208-2.
- 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. PMC 5183759. PMID 28058040.
- ^ IAEA (2009). Therapeutic radionuclide generators : Sr/Y and W/Re generators. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency. ISBN 978-92-0-111408-2.