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The relationship between elution time and eluate volume using the Ultra-TechneKow DTE technetium-99m generator
J C Hung1, D W Mahoney, D C Huang
1Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology and Section of Biostatistics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA. jhung@mayo.edu
Objective:
The new Ultra-TechneKow Dry Ship Top Elute 99mTc generator (UTK-DTE generator; Mallinckrodt Medical, Inc., St. Louis, MO) was devised to facilitate fractionated elution with an ergonomically designed elution shield. Fractionation is accomplished traditionally by visually observing the eluted volume through 2 layers of leaded glass windows located in a lighted elution shield and generator auxiliary shield. The goal of our study was to use elution time to determine the endpoint for obtaining the required volume of 99mTc-eluate from a UTK-DTE generator.
Methods:
After triplicate elution at several predetermined elution times, the initial weight of the evacuated collecting vial was subtracted from the total weight after elution to determine the elution volume.
Results:
A quadratic relationship was established between the eluate volume (v, mL) and elution time (t, s) (v = 0.3594 + 0.1889 t - 0.0009 t2). This equation is suitable for use with the 10-mL elution vial. This formula may not be accurate for the first elution since the UTK-DTE generator is a dry-column generator when shipped. The following elution times were calculated for some commonly eluted volumes: 2 mL (9 s), 4 mL (22 s), 5 mL (28 s), 7 mL (45 s), and 10 mL (88 s).
Conclusion:
Our calculated elution time method can be used to predict the eluate volume from a UTK-DTE generator.
