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ELIXYS - a fully automated, three-reactor high-pressure radiosynthesizer for development and routine production of diverse PET tracers.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Automated radiosynthesizers are vital for routine production of positron-emission tomography tracers to minimize radiation exposure to operators and to ensure reproducible synthesis yields. The recent trend in the synthesizer industry towards the use of disposable kits aims to simplify setup and operation for the user, but often introduces several limitations related to temperature and chemical compatibility, thus requiring reoptimization of protocols developed on non-cassette-based systems. Radiochemists would benefit from a single hybrid system that provides tremendous flexibility for development and optimization of reaction conditions while also providing a pathway to simple, cassette-based production of diverse tracers. METHODS:We have designed, built, and tested an automated three-reactor radiosynthesizer (ELIXYS) to provide a flexible radiosynthesis platform suitable for both tracer development and routine production. The synthesizer is capable of performing high-pressure and high-temperature reactions by eliminating permanent tubing and valve connections to the reaction vessel. Each of the three movable reactors can seal against different locations on disposable cassettes to carry out different functions such as sealed reactions, evaporations, and reagent addition. A reagent and gas handling robot moves sealed reagent vials from storage locations in the cassette to addition positions and also dynamically provides vacuum and inert gas to ports on the cassette. The software integrates these automated features into chemistry unit operations (e.g., React, Evaporate, Add) to intuitively create synthesis protocols. 2-Deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-5-methyl-?-l-arabinofuranosyluracil (l-[18F]FMAU) and 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-?-d-arabinofuranosylcytosine (d-[18F]FAC) were synthesized to validate the system. RESULTS:l-[18F]FMAU and d-[18F]FAC were successfully synthesized in 165 and 170 min, respectively, with decay-corrected radiochemical yields of 46% ± 1% (n = 6) and 31% ± 5% (n = 6), respectively. The yield, repeatability, and synthesis time are comparable to, or better than, other reports. d-[18F]FAC produced by ELIXYS and another manually operated apparatus exhibited similar biodistribution in wild-type mice. CONCLUSION:The ELIXYS automated radiosynthesizer is capable of performing radiosyntheses requiring demanding conditions: up to three reaction vessels, high temperatures, high pressures, and sensitive reagents. Such flexibility facilitates tracer development and the ability to synthesize multiple tracers on the same system without customization or replumbing. The disposable cassette approach simplifies the transition from development to production.

SUBMITTER: Lazari M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3717127 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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ELIXYS - a fully automated, three-reactor high-pressure radiosynthesizer for development and routine production of diverse PET tracers.

Lazari Mark M Quinn Kevin M KM Claggett Shane B SB Collins Jeffrey J Shah Gaurav J GJ Herman Henry E HE Maraglia Brandon B Phelps Michael E ME Moore Melissa D MD van Dam R Michael RM

EJNMMI research 20130712 1

<h4>Background</h4>Automated radiosynthesizers are vital for routine production of positron-emission tomography tracers to minimize radiation exposure to operators and to ensure reproducible synthesis yields. The recent trend in the synthesizer industry towards the use of disposable kits aims to simplify setup and operation for the user, but often introduces several limitations related to temperature and chemical compatibility, thus requiring reoptimization of protocols developed on non-cassette ...[more]

PMID: 23849185

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Project description:UnlabelledFully automated radiosynthesizers are continuing to be developed to meet the growing need for the reliable production of PET tracers made under current good manufacturing practice guidelines. There is a current trend toward supporting kitlike disposable cassettes that come preconfigured for particular tracers, thus eliminating the need for cleaning protocols between syntheses and enabling quick transitions to synthesizing other tracers. Though ideal for production, these systems are often limited for the development of novel tracers because of pressure, temperature, and chemical compatibility considerations. This study demonstrated the versatile use of the ELIXYS fully automated radiosynthesizer to adapt and produce 8 different (18)F-labeled PET tracers of varying complexity.MethodsThree-reactor syntheses of 2-deoxy-2-(18)F-fluoro-β-d-arabinofuranosylcytosine (d-(18)F-FAC), 2-deoxy-2-(18)F-fluoro-5-methyl-β-l-arabinofuranosyluracil (l-(18)F-FMAU), and 2-deoxy-2-(18)F-fluoro-5-ethyl-β-d-arabinofuranosyluracil (d-(18)F-FEAU) along with the 1-reactor syntheses of d-(18)F-FEAU, (18)F-FDG, 3-deoxy-3-(18)F-fluoro-l-thymidine ((18)F-FLT), (18)F-fallypride, 9-(4-(18)F-fluoro-3-hydroxymethylbutyl)-guanine ((18)F-FHBG), and N-succinimidyl-4-(18)F-fluorobenzoate ((18)F-SFB), were all produced using ELIXYS without the need for any hardware modifications or reconfiguration. Synthesis protocols were adapted and slightly modified from those in the literature but were not fully optimized. Furthermore, (18)F-FLT, (18)F-FDG, and (18)F-fallypride were produced sequentially on the same day and used for preclinical imaging of A431 tumor-bearing severe combined immunodeficient mice and wild-type BALB/c mice. To assess future translation to the clinical setting, several batches of tracers were subjected to a full set of quality control tests.ResultsAll tracers were produced with radiochemical yields comparable to those in the literature. (18)F-FLT, (18)F-FDG, and (18)F-fallypride were successfully used to image the mice, with results consistent with those reported in the literature. All tracers that were subjected to clinical quality control tests passed.ConclusionThe ELIXYS radiosynthesizer facilitates rapid tracer development and is capable of producing multiple (18)F-labeled PET tracers suitable for clinical applications using the same hardware setup.

Project description:Indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) using HEp-2 cells as a substrate is the gold standard for detecting antinuclear antibodies (ANA) in patient serum. However, the ANA IFA has labor-intensive nature of the procedure and lacks adequate standardization. To overcome these drawbacks, the automation has been developed and implemented to the clinical laboratory. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the analytical performance of a fully automated Helios ANA IFA analyzer in a real-life laboratory setting, and to compare the time and the cost of ANA IFA testing before and after adopting the Helios system. A total of 3,276 consecutive serum samples were analyzed for ANA using the Helios system from May to August 2019. The positive/negative results, staining patterns, and endpoint titers were compared between Helios and visual readings. Furthermore, the turnaround time and the number of wells used were compared before and after the introduction of Helios system. Of the 3,276 samples tested, 748 were positive and 2,528 were negative based on visual readings. Using visual reading as the reference standard, the overall relative sensitivity, relative specificity, and concordance of Helios reading were 73.3, 99.4, and 93.4% (κ = 0.80), respectively. For pattern recognition, the overall agreement was 70.1% (298/425) for single patterns, and 72.4% (89/123) for mixed patterns. For titration, there was an agreement of 75.9% (211/278) between automated and classical endpoint titers by regarding within ± one titer difference as acceptable. Helios significantly shortened the median turnaround time from 100.6 to 55.7 h (P < 0.0001). Furthermore, routine use of the system reduced the average number of wells used per test from 4 to 1.5. Helios shows good agreement in distinguishing between positive and negative results. However, it still has limitations in positive/negative discrimination, pattern recognition, and endpoint titer prediction, requiring additional validation of results by human observers. Helios provides significant advantages in routine laboratory ANA IFA work in terms of labor, time, and cost savings. We hope that upgrading and developing softwares with more reliable capabilities will allow automated ANA IFA analyzers to be fully integrated into the routine operations of the clinical laboratory.

Dataset Information

ELIXYS - a fully automated, three-reactor high-pressure radiosynthesizer for development and routine production of diverse PET tracers.

Publications

ELIXYS - a fully automated, three-reactor high-pressure radiosynthesizer for development and routine production of diverse PET tracers.

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