A new paradigm for programming and controlling automated radiosynthesizers

Objectives Software for radiochemistry systems has typically been designed with the engineer rather than the radiochemist in mind, with programs for automated production of PET probes created from sequences of low-level hardware operations. In some cases, the user is even responsible for adding steps to update the graphical representation of the system so that it visually reflects the operations being performed. In light of these unnecessarily complex platforms, our aim was to create intuitive control software for developing and performing radiochemistry on ELIXYS, Sofie Biosciences’ multi-pot cassette-based radiosynthesizer.

Methods Radiochemists were consulted and a wide range of radiosyntheses were analyzed to determine a basic set of chemistry operations needed for synthesis development and routine production. Based around these operations, we created a user-friendly software control system written in ActionScript and Python.

Results The software increases the productivity of radiochemists by enabling them to develop new synthesis protocols as a sequence of unit operations designed for chemists (Table 1) rather than requiring low-level knowledge of the system hardware. A client-server architecture provides reliability, enabling continuity of the run even if the controlling client computer fails, and allows a single user to control the hardware at a given time while others can watch the run in progress or create and edit sequences offline. The client software features an intuitive user interface designed to run on a variety of portable multitouch devices including the Apple iPad and Android tablets, giving radiochemists the ability to closely monitor and control the synthesis run remotely.

Conclusions The combination of sequences based on unit operations, an intuitive client, a robust server, and a highly automated synthesis system empowers radiochemists to develop and synthesize probes with ease.

Research Support This work was supported by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (5T32EB002101) and the Department of Energy (DE-SC0001249)

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Examples of unit operations from which syntheses are constructed