Development and long-term evaluation of a new 68Ge/68Ga generator based on nano-SnO2 for PET imaging

Abstract Radionuclide generator systems can routinely provide radionuclides on demand such as 68 Ga produced by a 68 Ge/ 68 Ga generator without the availability of an on-site accelerator or a research reactor. Thus, in this work nano-SnO 2 was used to develop a new 68 Ge/ 68 Ga generator which was evaluated over a period of 17 months and 305 elution cycles. The elution yield was 91.1 ± 1.8% in the first 7 mL (1 M HCl as eluent) when the generator was new and then it decreased with time and use to 73.8 ± 1.9%. Around 80% of the elutable 68 Ga activity was obtained in 1 mL and the 68 Ge content in the eluate did not exceed 1 × 10 –4 % over the investigation period when it was eluted regularly. The described generator provided adequate results for radiolabelling of DOTA-TOC with direct use of eluate. In addition, [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-TOC was tested satisfactorily for in vivo tumor detection by microPET/CT imaging in a lung cancer mouse model.