Diagnostic and Therapeutic RI Generators

Different types of generators have been developed for the convenient use of 99mTc as the demand for this radioisotope is strong. Currently, the demand for 99mTc is more than 80 % of the total demand for medical isotopes in the world. A 99mTc generator, in general, is composed of a column packed with ceramic adsorbent, tubing, eluent reservoir or vials, collection vials, and shielding. The key technology to develop a good generator is how to load 99Mo as much as possible while maintaining the quality of eluted 99mTc as good as possible. The technology is well developed and already available commercially for the case of the fission 99Mo/99mTc because loading of few curries of 99Mo on a conventional adsorbent, i.e. alumina is not a serious task in the chemical point of view. However, the current infrastructure of the supply of 99Mo to the world market is sturdy as the research reactors are getting aged. In this regard, alternative research activities to develop generators with (n,γ)99Mo have been performed by different groups. To develop commercially viable (n,γ)99Mo/99mTc generator, the generator column should have high adsorption capacity for molybdenum at least several fold higher than the fission 99Mo generator column. To achieve such high adsorption capacity, gel generator, PZC, and other technologies have been developed. However, there are still many restrictions to apply these technologies for the commercial production. As one of the latter approaches, several candidate adsorbents have been developed. One of the new adsorbents developed at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute shows a high adsorption capacity for Mo (∼200 mg/g) and reasonable elution efficiency for 99mTc (60 (∼ 80%). In addition, (n,γ 99Mo can be loaded by a column operation just like fission Mo generator production