The eluate is directly post-processed on miniaturized column filled with cation-exchange resin where 44Sc is quantitatively adsorbed online and successively eluted using 2–3 mL of 0.25 M ammonium acetate buffer (pH 4.0).
44Sc complexates with DOTA, a well-established bifunctional chelators conjugated to peptides or other molecular targeting vectors, its half-life of 4 h, a high positron branching, stable and non-toxic decay product and being generator-produced makes it an appropriate candidate in PET/CT diagnosis.
44Sc has an almost 4-times longer half-life and higher β+ branching than commonly used 68Ga, therefore it can be used for more accurate planning and dosimetric calculations being able to cover imaging periods of more than one day.
Recent studies with 44Sc-DOTA-conjugated tumor targeting vectors such as octreotides, showed in vitro and in vivo stability and revealed pharmacological parameters adequate to long-term (up to one day) molecular imaging.
Initial human studies with 44Sc-DOTATOC PET/CT imaging of somatostatin receptor positive liver metastases in a patient at early time-points (40 min p.i.)