Role of fluoride-18 transfer line on ¹⁸F-FDG production yield

2-(¹⁸F)fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ((¹⁸F)FDG) is the most commonly used radiopharmaceutical in clinical molecular imaging. The ¹⁸F radioisotopes were produced with our in-house 16.5MeV Cyclotron (PET trace 860, GE Healthcare, USA) by the proton bombardment on the enriched 18O water (from ABX Germany) (18O(p,n)¹⁸F) reaction. Around, 9 ± 1 Ci of ¹⁸F was transferred through the delivery line to module for the synthesis of ¹⁸F-FDG. In this study, we have explored the role of PTFE transfer line (¹⁸F transport line) on the yield of ¹⁸F-FDG. We got yield of around 55 ± 4 % (n = 30) on routine basis but the yield was dropped to 35 ± 15% (n = 3). The yield becomes normal (55 ± 4 %) when the transfer line was changed. The precursor shall be procured in such a way that it shall be used one month before its expire. The drop in yield critically matter to the commercial centers. The PTFE transfer line shall be changed after 100 runs or if possible, it shall be replaced with non-fluorinated (PEEK, PP)