Rubidium-82 generators for imaging studies.

Strontium-82, produced by spallation reaction with medium-energy proton beams, was used to evaluate Bio-Rex 70 and Chelex-100 ion-exchange resins for use in a compact Rb-82 generator. Adsorption of Sr-82 to the resin column, Rb-82 elution yields, Sr breakthrough, and 82Rb-Sr separation factors were determined for newly prepared columns and for longterm elution conditions. Separation factors of 10(7) to 10(8) were obtained with 2% NaCl elutions from Bio-Rex 70 resin columns while the separation factors was about 5 X 10(4) with the Chelex-100 resin column.