Fludeoxyglucose

Fludeoxyglucose F 18 Injection is a positron emitting radiopharmaceutical that is used for diagnostic purposes in conjunction with positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. The active ingredient 2-deoxy-2-[ ¹⁸F]fluoro-D-glucose has the molecular formula of C ₆H ₁₁ ¹⁸FO ₅with a molecular weight of 181.26, and has the following chemical structure:

Image of chemical structure

Fludeoxyglucose F 18 Injection is provided as a ready to use sterile, pyrogen free, clear, colorless citrate buffered solution. Each mL contains between 0.740 to 18.5 GBq (20.0-500 mCi) of 2-deoxy-2-[ ¹⁸F]fluoro-D-glucose at the EOS, 4.5 mg of sodium chloride in citrate buffer. The pH of the solution is between 4.5 and 7.5. The solution is packaged in a multiple-dose glass vial and does not contain any preservative.

Fluorine F 18 has a physical half-life of 109.7 minutes and decays to Oxygen O 18 (stable) by positron decay. The principal photons useful for imaging are the dual 511 keV "annihilation" gamma photons, that are produced and emitted simultaneously in opposite direction when the positron interacts with an electron (Table 2).

The specific gamma ray constant (point source air kerma coefficient) for fluorine F 18 is 5.7 R/hr/mCi (1.35 x 10 ^-6 Gy/hr/kBq) at 1 cm. The half-value layer (HVL) for the 511 keV photons is 4 mm lead (Pb). The range of attenuation coefficients for this radionuclide as a function of lead shield thickness is shown in Table 3. For example, the interposition of an 8 mm thickness of Pb, with a coefficient of attenuation of 0.25, will decrease the external radiation by 75%.

For use in correcting for physical decay of this radionuclide, the fractions remaining at selected intervals after calibration are shown in Table 4.