Oliver Lade

Radiochemistry on chip

We have developed an integrated microfluidic platform for producing 2-[(18)F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ((18)F-FDG) in continuous flow from a single bolus of radioactive isotope solution, with constant product yields achieved throughout the operation that were comparable to those reported for commercially available vessel-based synthesisers (40-80%). The system would allow researchers to obtain radiopharmaceuticals in a dose-on-demand setting within a few minutes. The flexible architecture of the platform, based on a modular design, can potentially be applied to the synthesis of other radiotracers that require a two-step synthetic approach, and may be adaptable to more complex synthetic routes by implementing additional modules. It can therefore be employed for standard synthesis protocols as well as for research and development of new radiopharmaceuticals.

Nitrogen supported solvent evaporation using continuous-flow microfluidics

In this work we demonstrate a continuously operating microfluidic device for solvent removal and exchange for chemical syntheses by means of a supporting gas. The glass device consists of three sections: (i) three merging microchannels to create an annular gas–liquid stream; (ii) a serpentine channel with a heater underneath to allow efficient evaporation of the volatile solvent; (iii) a section with side capillaries to separate the liquid from the gas phase. We demonstrate the performance of the device for the removal of acetonitrile from an acetonitrile–water mixture. We achieved efficient removal of acetonitrile within a few seconds for flow rates of 20–30 μL min−1 and a nitrogen pressure of 1.2 bar. In three steps, acetonitrile was reduced from 50 wt% in the feed solution to 1 wt% in the final solution. We believe that the device can be easily applied to other solvent mixtures.