Velikyan, I: Gallium-68 for the Labelling of Peptides and Ol

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a non-invasive imaging technique of high resolution, sensitivity and accurate quantification. The use of 68Ge/68Ga generator produced positron emitting gallium-68 might make PET clinical examinations possible worldwide at centres lacking accelerators. The 68Ga (III) is suitable for complexation reactions with chelators either naked or conjugated with macromolecules such as peptides and oligonucleotides. Such labelling procedures require pure and concentrated radiometal preparations, which cannot be sufficiently fulfilled by the presently available generator eluate. This work presents a method to increase the concentration and purity of 68Ga obtained from a commercial generator. In combination with microwave heating it improved specific radioactivity considerably. The method was automated for the radiopharmaceutical production for patient examinations. The availability of the methodology for the labelling of tracers with high specific radioactivity as well as technological platforms for automated production might be of great benefit for clinical practice and promote personalized medicine.