Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 18 No 3 (2014): 544 - 554

 

 

 

DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF A SIMPLE SEMI-AUTOMATED SYSTEM FOR [¹⁸F]-FLUOROCHOLINE SYNTHESIS

 

(Reka bentuk, pembangunan dan penilaian sistem pensintesis [¹⁸F]-Fluorocholine

separa automatik)

 

Faizal Mohamed¹*, Mohd Fadli Mohammad Noh¹, Irman Abd. Rahman¹, Nur Ratasha Alia Md. Rosli¹, Cheong Kai Heng¹, Zulkifli Mohamed Hashim², Mohamad Arif Hamzah³, Fadil Ismail³

 

¹School of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

²Nuclear Medicine Division,

³Prototype and Plant Development Centre,

Malaysian Nuclear Agency, Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author: faizalm@ukm.edu.my

 

 

Abstract

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning are usually conducted with [¹⁸F]-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) as tracer. The [¹⁸F]FDG exhibits several weakness in detecting certain type of tumours such as brain tumour and prostate metastasis. In this study, [¹⁸F]-fluorocholine (FCH) has been identified as an alternative to [¹⁸F]FDG. The absence of specific synthesizer for FCH production hampers the application of this tracer in PET studies at local premises. This study focuses on the development of the [¹⁸F]FCH synthesizer prototype and the [¹⁸F]FCH synthesis. The design would emphasize on its simplicity, relatively low cost, semi-automated synthesis and purification, as well as good reliability and safety. The [¹⁸F]FCH was synthesized in two steps approach; reacting [¹⁸F]-fluoride with dibromomethane into [¹⁸F]-fluorobromethane before purification using Sep-Pak silica cartridges and finally converted into [¹⁸F]FCH by reacting with N,N-dimethylaminoethanol. The synthesizer are successfully developed and able to achieve decay-corrected radiochemical yield of 10.131 % in under 110 minutes. Optimization of the radiochemical yield is still underway.

 

Keywords: [18F]-fluorocholine, remotely operated synthesizer, positron emission tomography, radiopharmaceutical

 

Abstrak

[¹⁸F]-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) secara amnya digunakan sebagai penyurih dalam imbasan menggunakan tomografi pancaran positron (PET). Penyurih ini mempunyai beberapa kelemahan dalam mengesan jenis kanser seperti tumor otak dan tumor prostat.  Disebabkan oleh faktor ini, [¹⁸F]-fluorokolina (FCH) telah dikenal pasti sebagai penyurih alternatif. Namun disebabkan tiada pensintesis FCH yang khusus, ia tidak dapat diaplikasikan sebagai penyurih PET di hospital tempatan. Kajian ini dijalankan bertujuan untuk menghasilkan prototaip pensintesis [¹⁸F] FCH dan mensintesis [¹⁸F] FCH. Reka bentuk prototaip ini tertumpu pada keringkasan, kos yang rendah, sintesis dan penulenan secara separa automatik, serta faktor keselamatan.[¹⁸F]FCH telah di sintesis menerusi dua peringkat; [¹⁸F]-fluorida di tindakbalas dengan dibromomethana menghasilkan [¹⁸F]-fluorobromethana sebelum penulenan menggunakan kartrij silica Sep-Pak. Kemudiannya [¹⁸F]-fluorobromethana di tindakbalas dengan N,N-dimethylaminoethanol menghasilkan [¹⁸F]FCH. Pensintesis [¹⁸F]FCH telah berjaya dihasilkan dan [¹⁸F]FCH dapat dihasilkan pada kadar 10.131 % dalam 110 minit. Penghasilan FCH secara optima masih dalam kajian.

 

Kata kunci: [18F]-fluorokolina, pensintesis kawalan jauh, tomografi pancaran positron, radiofarmaseutikal

 

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