Hot Cells

While there are four cleanrooms in the facility besides the Dispensing cleanroom, the original budget for the facility only allowed for the Dispensing and the ¹⁸F cleanroom to be outfitted with hot cells.  For the time being, different isotopes and their different chemistries will all be worked on in the one cleanroom.  Eventually, it is desired to split the ¹¹C compounds to their own cleanroom and their own hot cells.  One of the remaining two cleanrooms will be dedicated to labeling using isotopes produced by solid targets and the other cleanroom has no designated isotope and drug production assigned to it at this time.

The hotcells were also supplied by Comecer SpA of Castel Bolonese, Italy.  To the left is a MIP1100 general purpose hot cell containing an ¹¹C methyl-iodide/methyl-triflate synthesizer, the MeI Plus, manufactured by Synthra of Hamburg Germany.  The cell is shielded using 75 mm (3”) thick, chevroned lead bricks.  In the center and to the right (partially obscured) are two BBS-2V mini-hot cells for a total of four cells.  They are also shielded by the same 75 mm lead bricks.  They also have technical compartments next to them for HPLC solvents, variable wavelength detectors, etc.  The center top cell contains a nucleophilic substitution synthesis unit, a Synthera^® II manufactured by IBA S.A. who supplied the cyclotron.   This synthesizer has an HPLC purification module and we manufactured our own remotely controlled work-up frame for solid phase extraction purification and solvent removal.  The top right mini-hotcell is for ¹³N-ammonia and the bottom right mini-hotcells houses a ¹⁵O-H₂O module also from IBA.