Technetium-99m must be produced on-site in a nuclear medicine department.
The transparent bottle contains sterilized saline solution. Atomspheric pressure forces the saline into a radioactive column within the generator which contains an alumina column with Molybdenum-99. The Molybdenum-99 is adsorbed to the alumina column and not removed during the elution.
Another partially evacuated vial is placed on the generator and is shielded within a red cap. The concentrated Technetium-99m solution is collected within this vial. This solution is then diluted and attached to a compound before being injected into the body.
Regular checks are done on the elution solution to ensure that no alumina or Molybdenum-99 is eluted into the Technetium-99m solution.
Case Discussion
The parent nuclei (Molybdenum-99) have a longer half-life than the daughter nuclei (Technetium-99m). The daughter nuclei have sufficiently different chemical properties than the parent nuclei and thus elution is a suitable method to separate the daughter from the parent nuclei.
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