Reinvestigation of a physiological eluate of the 52Fe/52mMn generator

We have achieved a significant step forward in the potential application of 52mMn2+ (T1/2 = 0.35 h, beta + = 97%) as a myocardial imaging agent with positron emission tomography (PET) by the introduction of a 5% (physiological) glucose solution as an eluent for the 52Fe/52mMn generator. Our experiments have demonstrated the favourable properties of a glucose solution with minimal breakthrough (< 0.3%) of 52Fe and yields of up to 90% 52mMn2+. Although it has been shown that lower 52Fe breakthrough is attainable using other eluents, due to the short half life of 52Fe (8.27 h) breakthrough up to 1% would not appear to significantly alter the efficacy of the 52mMn eluted with this 5% glucose solution. The primary advantage of this approach lies in its convenience of application, in that a 5% glucose solution may be administered directly into patients thereby circumventing the major problem of non-injectable eluates previously associated with this generator.