Quantification of tracer mass in cardiac positron emission tomography using high-performance liquid chromatography

Jenna Abu-Dieh; Benjamin Rotstein

doi:10.18192/osurj.v5i2.8078

Quantification of tracer mass in cardiac positron emission tomography using high-performance liquid chromatography

Authors

Jenna Abu-Dieh University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Benjamin Rotstein University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18192/osurj.v5i2.8078

Abstract

Cardiac sympathetic nervous system dysfunction is associated with multiple cardiovascular diseases and may be assessed non-invasively using positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Meta-fluorobenzylguanidine labeled with fluorine-18 ([18F]mFBG) is a radiotracer that targets the norepinephrine transporter and enables quantitative evaluation of sympathetic nerve function. However, tracer formulations contain both radioactive and non-radioactive forms, and excess non-radioactive mass may compete for transporter binding and affect imaging accuracy. This proposal aims to develop a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-based method to quantify total tracer mass and determine molar activity of [18F]mFBG. Calibration standards of non-radioactive mFBG will be prepared under formulation-matched solvent conditions and analyzed using UV-detected HPLC to generate a calibration curve. Formulated tracer samples will then be analyzed to determine total mFBG concentration, and molar activity will be calculated as the ratio of radioactivity to total tracer mass. This approach is expected to provide a reproducible method for ensuring biologically negligible tracer mass in preclinical PET studies and may support future clinical translation.

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Published

2026-06-17

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 2 (2026)

Section

Research Proposals

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