2.1 Radiosynthesis Automation

2 Research Method Development

2.1 Radiosynthesis automation

Two of our six hot-cells are equipped with Synthia radiosynthesis devices, which were custom-built for PRSS by Synthia Lab AB, now Uppsala IMANET a subsidiary of GE Healthcare. These devices are PC-controlled and semi-robotic. They are designed principally to perform ¹¹C-chemistry with a variety of labeling agents. These include [¹¹C]carbon monoxide for reactions in a microautoclave,¹ an important emerging area of ¹¹C-radiochemistry. Synthia was adapted in-house to perform ¹⁸F-chemistry. Synthia was also coupled to a microwave reactor to expand its capability further.

Two other hot-cells are equipped with TRACERLab FXF-N boxes (formerly Nuclear Interface, now GE) for radiochemistry with [¹⁸F]fluoride ion, one of which is used to produce [¹⁸F]fallypride (6). The other box was successfully adapted by addition of a second automated reactor for two-stage radiochemistry. This second reactor was constructed within NIMH according to our design and is used regularly to produce [¹⁸F]SPA-RQ (7).² Both boxes are used for experimental radiotracer production.

The two remaining hot-cells are equipped with a Micro-Lab MeI system and a FXc carbon-11 chemistry system (both from GE). The Micro-lab system is linked to a single loop methylation device³ (Bioscan). This apparatus is the main facility for producing experimental and literature ¹¹C-labeled tracers from [¹¹C]methyl iodide or [¹¹C]methyl triflate.