Rapid miniaturized chromatographic quality-control procedures for Tc-99m radiopharmaceuticals

Our laboratory has adopted a complete miniaturized charomatography system for Tc-99m radiopharmaceuticals in order to improve upon the commercial systems currently available. Three distinct, separate, chromatographic procedures are used to determine the labeling efficiencies of Tc-99m-labeled sulfur colloid, MAA, stannous chloride, phytate, DMSA, DTPA, pyrophosphate, diphosphonate, methylene diphosphonate, polyphosphate, and glucoheptonate. The chromatographic systems include Whatman 31 ET paper and acetone, Gelman ITLC-SG and 0.9% sodium chloride, and Gelman ITLC-SA and acetone. The chromatographic strips are miniaturized (1 X 6 cm), colored-coded, marked, and numbered. All the chromatographic quality-control procedures are simple, rapid, and can easily be incorporated into the routine quality-control program of any nuclear medicine facility.