Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2026
Meso-Scale Particle Image Velocimetry Studies of Neurovascular Flows In Vitro
Published on: December 3, 2018
How to get 133Xe into solution for blood flow studies: a technical note with an emphasis on neurosurgical patients
Matthias F Oertel1, Martin Preiss, Maximilian Puille
1Departments of aNeurosurgery bNuclear Medicine, University Hospital Giessen, Germany. matthias.oertel@neuro.med.uni-giessen.de
Objective:
133Xe has been widely used for measuring blood flow in various organs. Because an injectable solution of 133Xe is not commercially available, a technique is presented that allows both the production of the radiopharmaceutical and the drawing of individualized patient doses.
Method:
A system was designed to crush ampoules of 133Xe gas inside a sealed cylinder containing sodium chloride injection 0.9%.
Results:
133Xe ampoules of different sizes and filled with different activities were crushed within the system. The steel cylinder shielded 98% of the radiation. With 34 GBq 133Xe a total of 20 studies of cerebral blood flow were performed. No bacteriological contamination of the drawn doses was detected.
Conclusion:
The crusher system allows the efficient and safe production of an injectable solution of 133Xe with sodium chloride 0.9%.
