A new generator for ionic gallium-68.

To meet the needs created by the rapid development of positron tomographic techniques, a new Ge-68 leads to Ga-68 generator has been developed. By elution under reduced pressure, this tin dioxide/1 N HCl generator provides a sterile solution of Ga-68 in ionic form, ready for use in the preparation of many radiopharmaceuticals. Since the Ga-68 recovery yield is high (75--80%) and the elution time very short (less than 2 min), these products possess maximum activity. Owing to its very slight Ge-68 leakage (less than 0.0002% per elution), the tin dioxide/HCl generator is long-lasting and, more importantly, the radiotoxicity of the labeled derivatives is kept to a minimum. The ionic Ga-68 obtained in this way has been used to label several radiopharmaceuticals.