A comparison of radiopharmaceutical labelling efficiency of chromatographic generator vs MEK extraction [99mTc]pertechnetate

Technetium-99m radiopharmaceuticals prepared for routine clinical use, were labelled with [^99mTc]pertechnetate obtained from either a commercial chromatographic generator or from a Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre semi-automated self-shielded methyl ethyl ketone extraction system. The [^99mTc]pertechnetate source for each ^99mTc radiopharmaceutical was selected at random over a 16 month period of time. The routine quality control data (silica-gel thin layer chromatography) was reviewed retrospectively, as an in vitro assessment of the quality of the [^99mTc]radiopharmaceutical prepared from each [^99mTc]pertechnetate source. Bone scans ([^99mTc]pyrophosphate) and wall motion studies ([^99mTc]red blood cells) were evaluated as an in vivo assessment of the [^99mTc]pertechnetate used to label the pyrophosphate or red blood cells. The in vitro studies indicated no difference in the labelling efficiency and radiochemical purity of the ^99mTc radiopharmaceuticals prepared from either source of [^99mTc]pertechnetate and there was also no difference observed in the image quality of either bone scans or wall motion studies obtained with either source of [^99mTc]pertechnetate.