Advances in the Production, Processing and MicroPET Image Quality of Technetium-94m

This work involves the production, processing and imaging of the short-lived, rarely used positron emission tomography (PET) radionuclide technetium-94m (^94mTc). Our procedures are an extension of methods reported in the literature and are detailed within. A key modification was the development of a single step that combines purification and concentration of an aqueous ^94mTc-pertechnetate solution, which both reduces processing time and increases the final concentration of the solution. Additionally, a convenient method for the direct recovery of ^94mTc into an organic solvent was developed, eliminating the solvent transfer step needed for organic syntheses using ^94mTc.
Each of these advances potentially extends the scope of syntheses possible with this short-lived radionuclide. To explore the imaging potential of ^94mTc, we carried out phantom imaging studies on small-scale high-resolution PET scanners to estimate the limitations of detection associated with ^94mTc and PET. Preliminary studies demonstrate that useful images can be obtained with modern image reconstruction algorithms when using a correction for the cascade gamma ray contamination.