Technegas: A medical application of {sup 99m}Tc for the study of buckyballs, blood clots, lung disease and AIDS
- Univ. of NSW, Sidney (Australia)
- Australian National Univ., Canberra (Australia)
- Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick (Australia)
Radionuclide studies of lung disease have been greatly enhanced by the introduction of an Australian invention; the Technegas generator. The properties of the {open_quotes}dry radio-aerosols{close_quotes} produced by this device ensure lung images superior to those from true radio-gases such as {sup 133}Xe with the additional advantage of employing {sup 99m}Tc, the most widespread radionuclide agent. A Technegas lung scan can enable identification of pulmonary mebolism (an immediately life threatening condition) emphysema and chronic obstructive lung disease. A simple modification to the generator gas mixture produces Pertechnegas an agent useful in studies of the integrity of the alveolar epithelial membrane in immunosuppressed patients such as transplants and AIDS. Although these agents are now common in Australia and Europe, little has been proven of their chemical composites. Technegas is formed by the initial evaporation of ({sup 99m}Tc) sodium pertechnetate with the subsequent sublimation of carbon from a disposable graphite crucible at {approximately}2500{degrees}C in an atmosphere of 100% argon. {sup 99m}Tc atoms are lifted off with the crystalline layers of graphite during the vaporization. Technegas then possibly consists of {sup 99m}Tc based metallo-fullerenes and fullerenes. Technegas has an effective half life in the lung very similar to the physical half life of Technetium (6 hours) regardless of clinical condition; a result which suggests that Technegas contains endohedral fullerenes. Pertechnegas is created in an atmosphere of 97% Ar 3% O{sub 2} and has an effective half life in the lung of less than 15 minutes.
- OSTI ID:
- 61922
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9405234-; TRN: 95:003327-0055
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 42. American Society of Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) conference on mass spectrometry and allied topics, Chicago, IL (United States), 29 May - 3 Jun 1994; Other Information: PBD: 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the 42nd ASMS conference on mass spectrometry and allied topics; PB: 1233 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Clinical comparison of Technegas and xenon-133 in 50 patients with suspected pulmonary embolus
Lung ventilation scanning with a new carbon particle radioaerosol (Technegas). Preliminary patient studies