Purification and Concentration of Gallium-68 via anion exchange method from a SnO₂- Based Column Germanium-68/ Gallium-68 Generator

PET/CT Scan with ⁶⁸Ga-labelled analogs is of increasing interest in Nuclear Medivcine and currently is being performed all over the world. However, such labelling procedure requires high purity and concentrated solutions of ^68Ga. Here we report the purification and concentration of the aluate of SnO₂-Based ^68Ge/ ^68Ga generators via the anion exchange method. Three different anion columns were selected to purify and concentrate the ^68Ga eluates which are Chromafix, Oasis WAX and AG 1-X8 columns. The different anion columns were compared and evaluated in terms of their capability in adsorption and desorption of ^68Ga from the generator. While the optimum molarity of Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) for highest ^68Ga retention was also determined starting from the ranges of 4M to 7M of HCl. The results showed that the percentage of ^68Ga retention or adsorption atarted to be plateau at molaruty of 5.5M for all three anion cartridges. One-way ANOVA analysis proved that there is no significant difference between 5.5M with 6.0M, 6.5M and 7.0M which means that the retention of ^68Ga is equal at those molarities. At 5.5M, Chromafix and Oasis WAX cartridges showed the highest retention of ^68Ga which is 98.30 %. The lowest ^68Ga retention was gained by AG 1-X8 column which is 97.07 %. While for desorption of ^68Ga, the highest percentage was obtained by using Oasis WAX cartridges which is 70.49 % followed by Chromafix which is 70.36 %. The lowest desorption of ^68Ga was obtained by using AG 1-X8 column which is only 58.56 %. Therefore, from this study, the most suitable cartridge and HCl molarity that should be applied in purification and concentration of Gallium-68 eluate from a SnO₂ based ^68Ge/ ^68Ga generator is Oasis WAX column with a HCl molarity of 5.5M respectively. (author)