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Continuous Radionuclide Generation. II. Scintigraphic Definition of Capillary Exchange by Rapid Decay of ^81mKr and Its Applications

Veterans Administration Hospital, Hines, Illinois
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois

Correspondence: For reprints contact: Ervin Kaplan, Nuclear Medicine Service, Veterans Administration Hospital, Hines, Ill. 60141.

ABSTRACT

Specific theoretical considerations of the properties of the radionuclide ^81mKr are presented as preliminary to the application of a new method of selective scintigraphic angiography. This technique proposes defining the size, configuration, and location of infarcts; vascular insufficiency; and other physiologic and pathologic sites of absent, increased, or decreased circulatory exchange. An ⁸¹Rb-^81mKr radionuclide generator has been constructed to produce, at a constant rate, ^81mKr, a water-soluble gas, diffusible through capillary membranes, emitting a monoenergetic gamma ray, and decaying with a half-life of 13 sec. This gas in solution may be infused at a constant rate intra-arterially into an organ or anatomic region. Infusion may be sustained until equilibrium conditions prevail. In this steady state intravascular radioactivity remains constant as it is replaced by newly generated ^81mKr. The gas that diffuses into the extracapillary space exchanges more slowly than the intravascular activity. The rapid decay produces a heterogeneity of distribution of radio-activity which depends on the diffusion time. A static image produced by a scintillation camera will detect, record, and display this heterogeneity and may be processed to define the adequacy of capillary exchange. The built-in clock of rapid decay will define the kinetics of exchange in a steady state with a single image. Applications of the ^81mKr generator delivery system are described.

FOOTNOTES

^* Current address: Michael Reese Hospital, Chicago, Illinois.