RADIONUCLIDE GENERATORS

The present status and future directions of research and development o n radionuclide generator technology are reported. The recent interest to develop double-neutron capture reactions for production of in vivo generators; neutron rich nuclides for radioimmunotherapeutic pharmaceu ticals; and advances with ultrashort lived generators is highlighted. Emphasis is focused on: production of the parent radionuclide; the sel ection and the evaluation of support materials and eluents with respec t to the resultant radiochemical yield of the daughter, and the breakt hrough of the radionuclide parent; and, the uses of radionuclide gener ators in radiopharmaceutical chemistry, biomedical and industrial appl ications. The Zn-62 --> Cu-62, Ni-66 --> Cu-66, Rh-103m --> Rh-103, W- 188 --> Re-188 and the Ac-225 --> Fr-221 --> Bi-213 generators are pre dicted to be emphasized for future development. Coverage of the Mo-99 --> Tc-99m generator was excluded, as it the subject of another review . The literature search ended June, 1996.