WHICH WILL BE THE WORKHORSE RADIONUCLIDE OF FUTURE DIAGNOSTIC NUCLEAR MEDICINE?

摘要

Technetium-99m is still the most frequently employed radionuclide in nuclear medicine as a result of its widespread availability through the Mo-99/Tc-99m transportable generator system and, most importantly, because of the ubiquitous use of freeze-dried kit formulations for one-spot, high-yield preparation of Tc-99m radiopharmaceuticals in a hospital radiopharmacy. However, after the advent of Positron Emission Tomography (PET), a complex and technologically highly demanding imaging modality, efforts have been devoted to find a PET radionuclide having the same practical advantages of technetium-99m. Gallium-68 has been proposed as the most attractive option due to its generator produced. However, major issues are still challenging this perspective. A short review of the most significant differences between Gallium-68 and Technetium-99m from a radiopharmaceutical chemistry point of view is presented here.