Evaluation of 99Mo/99mTc generator columns after irradiation with different absorbed doses

• Autor(a) principal: FUKUMORI, NEUZA T.O.
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: MENGATTI, JAIR, MATSUDA, MARGARETH M.N., INTERNATIONAL NUCLEAR ATLANTIC CONFERENCE
• Tipo de documento: Artigo de conferência
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional do IPEN
• Texto Completo: http://repositorio.ipen.br/handle/123456789/28282
• topic: absorbed radiation doses; aluminium oxides; calorimetry; cobalt 60; feasibility studies; molybdenum 99; radioisotope generators; sterilization; technetium 99; thermal gravimetric analysis

The 99Mo/99mTc generator is widely used in nuclear medicine and it consists of a glass column containing Teflon?? strips and alumina in which 99Mo produced by 235U fission is adsorbed. The 99mTcO4- eluate shall meet the sterile and pyrogen free conditions for injectable radiopharmaceuticals as determined by the Good Manufacturing Practices. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using gamma radiation in the sterilization of the 99Mo/99mTc generator column and the influence on the elution efficiency. Alumina-containing columns were irradiated with 10, 15, 25 and 50 kGy absorbed doses. Alumina samples and control (non-irradiated) were submitted to X-ray diffraction and the combined use of scanning electron microscopy and elemental analysis. Teflon?? samples were evaluated by thermogravimetry (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). X-ray diffractograms and micrographies with elemental analysis showed no significant changes in the crystalline structure of the alumina because it was stable ??-Al2O3. TGA demonstrated that higher doses showed changes in lower temperatures and times than the control material. For DSC the higher the absorbed dose, the greater the polymer chain breakage and crosslinking in the material. The generator system without radioactivity was set up with the irradiated columns and the eluates demonstrated to be sterile and pyrogen free. The effects of different absorbed doses on the generator column, although some reported changes in the materials, demonstrated that the sterilization of the columns by irradiation with gamma rays as an alternative to wet heat sterilization is feasible from a technical and financial point of view.