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AssigneeThe Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Company
InventorsJames F. Castner, Bobby E. Corry, Thomas D. Harris, Richard J. Looby
Estimating the term…
Apparatus and method for producing a radiopharmaceutical formulation utilize a radiation-shielding container for receiving a vial having the non-radioactive components necessary to form a radiopharmaceutical formulation therein. A mixture of such non-radioactive components and a radioactive liquid added thereto is both heated and cooled using a thermoelectric element. The container comprises a hollow outer shielding member formed from a radiation shielding material and a vial holder formed from a highly heat conductive material received therewithin. The vial holder includes a skirt portion that defines a socket. The socket is sized to receive in an intimate heat transmissive relationship a mounting projection that is itself connected in thermally conductive contact with the thermoelectric element. Using the thermoelectric heating and cooling element, heat is both applied to and removed from the radioactive liquid and the non-radioactive components within the vial while the vial is held within the vial holder within the radiation shielding container, thereby to produce a radiopharmaceutical formulation within the vial.
A radiation-shielding container for receiving a vial having the components necessary to form a radiopharmaceutical formulation contained therein and in which those components may be both heated and cooled, the container comprising:
An apparatus in which the components necessary to form a radiopharmaceutical formulation contained within a vial are both heated and cooled, the apparatus comprising:
A method for preparing a radiopharmaceutical formulation within a vial, the method comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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No related US applications are recorded in the indexed filing history.
Transportable or portable shielded containers: for storing radioactive sources, e.g. source carriers for irradiation units; Radioisotope containers
Protection against x-radiation, gamma radiation, corpuscular radiation or particle bombardment
Term ended 15 Dec 2013 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and a method for the rapid preparation of a radiopharmaceutical formulation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description, taken in accordance with the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this application and in which:
FIG. 1 is an exploded side elevational view, entirely in section, of a container for preparing a radiopharmaceutical formulation in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention; and
FIG. 2A is a stylized diagrammatic representation of an apparatus for both heating and cooling the components necessary to form a radiopharmaceutical formulation using a thermoelectric heating and cooling element, the apparatus including the container of FIG. 1, which is shown in FIG. 2A in a side elevational view, entirely in section, in its fully assembled condition;
Throughout the following detailed description similar reference numerals refer to similar elements in all Figures of the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an exploded sectional view of a radiation-shielding container generally indicated by the reference character 10 in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention. As will be developed the radiation-shielding container 10 receives a vial V having contained therein various non-radioactive components necessary to form a radiopharmaceutical formulation. In some instances the non-radioactive components may be in lyophilized form. A radiopharmaceutical formulation is produced by heating and thereafter cooling a mixture of the (lyophilized) non-radioactive components and a radioactive liquid. The radiation-shielding container 10 supports the vial V while the mixture of the non-radioactive components and the radioactive liquid is being heated and cooled. The application of heat to and the removal of heat from the mixture is effected utilizing the apparatus diagrammatically indicated by the reference character 80 of FIG. 2. The vial V may carry the components necessary to produce any of a variety of radiopharmaceutical formulations, as, for example, the technetium-labeled radiopharmaceutical Technetium Tc.sup.99 m-Sestamibi myocardial imaging agent manufactured by DuPont-Merck Pharmaceutical Company, Billerica, Mass., and sold under the trademark Cardiolite.RTM.. The radiopharmaceutical formulation also manufactured by DuPont-Merck Pharmaceutical Company and sold under the trademark Neurolite.RTM. may also be produced using the various aspects of the present invention.
The container 10 includes an outer shielding member 12, perhaps best seen in FIG. 2A. The outer shielding member 12 is a hollow, tubular member formed from a radiation shielding material, such as lead or tungsten. For reasons of structural rigidity and machinability, tungsten is preferred. However, in instances where a highly radioactive liquid is being used in the preparation of the formulation the shielding member 12 for the container 10 may be fabricated from a material such as depleted uranium.