Objective
The aim of this project is the design, fabrication and implementation of a microdevice able to synthesise radiopharmaceuticals for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) analysis, a technique usually employed in medicine for its unsurpassed sensitivity and specificity. We propose to develop a modular microfluidic architecture which can be used for standard synthesis protocols as well as for R&D of new radiopharmaceuticals. In order to achieve this target, emerging technologies in the field of micro reactors and micro total analysis systems (μ–TAS) have to be applied to the synthetic pathways typical for radiopharmaceuticals, thus improving the traditional approach in terms of efficiency and safety. A deep knowledge of the chemical processes and of the separation techniques involved in radiosynthesis is needed to define the features of the modules to be fabricated as well as state of art techniques in the field of micro fabrications and microfluidics for the implementation of high performance micro devices. Standard synthesis protocols and new radiopharmaceuticals will be carried into the micro devices thus evaluating their efficiency and versatility. The yields and the purity of the products produced into micro devices will be compared with those obtained with traditional methods and tested in vivo for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) analysis. To ensure the success of the overall project, we will take advantage of a strict collaboration between chemists, physics and engineers in an interdisciplinary approach. For this purpose, we built an international network collaboration between academic partners dealing with the technological side, an industrial partner for checking the system robustness and a physiological clinical institute able to evaluate the end-user outcome.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Call for proposal
FP7-NMP-2007-SMALL-1
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Funding Scheme
CP-FP - Small or medium-scale focused research projectCoordinator
00185 Roma
Italy