Validity of tissue paste standards for quantitative whole-body autoradiography using short-lived radionuclides

A method of preparing radioactive standards for quantitative whole-body autoradiography (WBARG) using short-lived radionuclides is described and evaluated. Radioactive standards were prepared from bovine brain paste which was mixed with serial dilutions of the radionuclide being studied. Homogeneous distribution of the radionuclide in the brain paste was verified by direct counting and autoradiographic techniques. In addition, there was good agreement between the amounts of radioactivity obtained from quantitative WBARG and tissue counting in all of the major tissues sampled. Therefore, this method is effective for quantitative analysis of WBARG using short-lived radionuclides, for which permanent reference standards are unavailable.