Full-automatic radiopharmaceutical split charging equipment and method with high split charging precision

Abstract

The invention discloses a full-automatic radioactive medicine split charging device and method with high split charging precision, and relates to the technical field of radioactive medicine split charging. The split charging device comprises a conveying pipe, a liquid level detector and a peristaltic pump; the second end of the conveying pipe is connected to a mother liquid bottle, a saline water bottle, a gas source and a waste liquid bottle through a mother liquid pipe, a saline water pipe, a gas inlet pipe and a waste liquid pipe respectively, the mother liquid pipe and the saline water pipe are arranged between the gas inlet pipe and a liquid level detector, and the mother liquid pipe and the saline water pipe are arranged between the waste liquid pipe and the liquid level detector. Valves are arranged on the mother liquor pipe, the saline water pipe, the air inlet pipe and the waste liquid pipe. The device has the advantages of long-distance operation and short sub-packaging time, can effectively avoid ray injury and misoperation of medical staff, and reduces health and safety risks; the split charging precision is greatly improved, the activity deviation is lower than the error of + / -15% of existing manual split charging in hospitals, and the volume deviation is within 3%.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of radiopharmaceutical dispensing technology, and in particular to a fully automated radiopharmaceutical dispensing equipment and method with high dispensing accuracy. Background Technology

[0002] Radiopharmaceuticals play an increasingly important role in medical diagnosis and treatment. However, the dispensing of radiopharmaceuticals mainly relies on manual operation. Medical staff need to directly contact radioactive materials and are exposed to radiation for extended periods, posing a serious threat to their health. Prolonged work can also lead to fatigue, inattention, and errors that could cause radiation safety accidents. Furthermore, manual dispensing is inefficient and cannot meet the demands of modern medicine for rapid and large-scale supply of radiopharmaceuticals. More importantly, the thick shielding and gloves used during manual dispensing make it difficult to guarantee precision and accuracy, easily resulting in significant dosage errors. This can affect the accuracy and efficacy of drug diagnosis and even have additional adverse effects on patients. Statistics show that manual dispensing in hospitals typically has an activity deviation of ±15%. Summary of the Invention

[0003] To address the problems of large dosage errors, low efficiency, and safety and health risks to medical personnel associated with manual radiopharmaceutical dispensing, this invention provides a fully automated radiopharmaceutical dispensing device and method with high dispensing accuracy.

[0004] The present invention provides the following technical solution: a fully automated radiopharmaceutical dispensing device with high dispensing accuracy, comprising a delivery pipe and a liquid level detector and a peristaltic pump installed on the delivery pipe. The first end of the delivery pipe is connected to a dispensing container, the second end of the delivery pipe is connected to a mother liquor bottle through a mother liquor pipe, a saline bottle through a saline pipe, a gas source through an air inlet pipe, and a waste liquid bottle through a waste liquid pipe. The mother liquor pipe and the saline pipe are located between the air inlet pipe and the liquid level detector, and the mother liquor pipe and the saline pipe are located between the waste liquid pipe and the liquid level detector. Valves are provided in the mother liquor pipe, the saline pipe, the air inlet pipe, and the waste liquid pipe.

[0005] Preferably, the second end of the conveying pipe is provided with a waste liquid pipe, an air inlet pipe, a brine pipe and a mother liquor pipe in sequence.

[0006] Preferably, it also includes a weighing device disposed at the bottom of the mother liquor bottle.

[0007] Preferably, the valve is a pinch valve, the dispensing container is a syringe, and the gas source provides sterile air.

[0008] Preferably, the device also includes a housing, on the side of which the weighing device, saline bottle rod, and syringe clip are provided. The delivery pipe, mother liquor pipe, saline pipe, air inlet pipe, and waste liquid pipe are all fixed to the housing by pipe clamps. The top surface of the housing is provided with the pipe clamp valve, liquid level detector, and peristaltic pump.

[0009] A fully automated method for dispensing radiopharmaceuticals, applied to a fully automated dispensing equipment, includes the following steps: S1, fill the mother liquor tube with mother liquor and the saline tube with physiological saline; S2, calculate the required volume of mother liquor and physiological saline for dispensing based on the mother liquor activity, mother liquor volume, set activity, and set volume; S3, start the peristaltic pump to pump the mother liquor and physiological saline into the delivery pipe and the dispensing container according to the required volumes of mother liquor and physiological saline, respectively. Then open the air inlet valve and close the other valves, and start the peristaltic pump to pump the liquid in the delivery pipe into the dispensing container.

[0010] Preferably, the specific process of step S1 is as follows: only open the mother liquor pipe valve or the saline pipe valve, and start the peristaltic pump to pump the liquid to the delivery pipe until the liquid level detector detects the liquid and stops the delivery. Then close the mother liquor pipe valve or the saline pipe valve, and open the waste liquid pipe valve. The peristaltic pump rotates in the reverse direction to send the liquid in the delivery pipe to the waste liquid bottle, and then close the waste liquid pipe valve. The above operation is carried out in sequence to fill the mother liquor pipe with mother liquor and the saline pipe with physiological saline.

[0011] Preferably, the specific process of step S3 is as follows: First, only open the mother liquor pipe valve, start the peristaltic pump to draw the mother liquor into the delivery pipe and the dispensing container, and the amount drawn is the volume of mother liquor required for dispensing; close the mother liquor pipe valve and open the saline pipe valve, start the peristaltic pump to draw the physiological saline into the delivery pipe and the dispensing container, and the amount drawn is the volume of physiological saline required for dispensing; open the air inlet pipe valve and close other valves, start the peristaltic pump to pump the liquid in the delivery pipe into the dispensing container.

[0012] Preferably, step S3 further includes: before dispensing begins, opening the air inlet valve and closing other valves, starting the peristaltic pump to pump a small amount of gas into the dispensing container; after dispensing is completed, opening the waste liquid pipe valve and closing other valves, and rotating the peristaltic pump in reverse to discharge excess gas and a small amount of waste liquid in the delivery pipe into the waste liquid bottle.

[0013] The beneficial effects of this invention are: an automatic dispensing device is designed to replace manual dispensing, and an automatic dispensing method is proposed based on the automatic dispensing device. It has the advantages of remote operation and short dispensing time, which can effectively avoid radiation damage and misoperation of medical staff and reduce health and safety risks; the dispensing accuracy of this invention is also greatly improved, with the activity deviation being lower than the current hospital manual dispensing error of ±15% and the volume deviation within 3%. Attached Figure Description

[0014] Figure 1 This is a diagram showing the connection of an embodiment of a dispensing device.

[0015] Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of one embodiment of a dispensing device.

[0016] Reference numerals: 10, Mother liquor bottle; 11, Weighing device; 20, Brine bottle; 30, Gas source; 40, Waste liquid bottle; 50, Delivery pipe; 51, Mother liquor pipe; 52, Brine pipe; 53, Air inlet pipe; 54, Waste liquid pipe; 55, Valve; 55a, Mother liquor pipe valve; 55b, Brine pipe valve; 55c, Air inlet pipe valve; 55d, Waste liquid pipe valve; 60, Liquid level detector; 70, Peristaltic pump; 80, Dispensing container; 90, Equipment casing; 91, Brine bottle lifting rod; 92, Pipe clamp. Detailed Implementation

[0017] The embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and reference numerals, so that those skilled in the art can implement them after reading this specification. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only for explaining the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0018] Example 1

[0019] This invention provides, for example Figure 1 The illustrated fully automated radiopharmaceutical dispensing equipment with high dispensing accuracy includes a delivery pipe 50 and a liquid level detector 60 and a peristaltic pump 70 installed on the delivery pipe 50. The first end of the delivery pipe 50 is connected to a dispensing container 80, and the second end of the delivery pipe 50 is provided with multiple branch pipes in sequence, namely a waste liquid pipe 54, an air inlet pipe 53, a saline pipe 52, and a mother liquor pipe 51. The waste liquid pipe 54 is connected to a waste liquid bottle 40, the air inlet pipe 53 is connected to a gas source 30, the saline pipe 52 is connected to a saline bottle 20, and the mother liquor pipe 51 is connected to a mother liquor bottle 10. Each of the waste liquid pipe 54, the air inlet pipe 53, the saline pipe 52, and the mother liquor pipe 51 is provided with a valve 55, namely a waste liquid pipe valve 55d, an air inlet pipe valve 55c, a saline pipe valve 55b, and a mother liquor pipe valve 55a.

[0020] Please refer to Figure 1 The mother liquor pipe 51 and saline pipe 52 are located between the air inlet pipe 53 and the liquid level detector 60. After the delivery pipe is filled with mother liquor or physiological saline, the peristaltic pump can draw in clean gas to pump the remaining mother liquor or physiological saline in the delivery pipe into the dispensing container 80. The mother liquor pipe 51 and saline pipe 52 are also located between the waste liquid pipe 54 and the liquid level detector 60, which facilitates the peristaltic pump to reverse and discharge the residual liquid and air in the delivery pipe 50 into the waste liquid bottle 40.

[0021] Specifically, please refer to Figure 2 The radiopharmaceutical mother liquor is placed in a mother liquor bottle 10, which is placed on a side platform of the equipment housing 90. A weighing device 11 is also installed at the bottom of the mother liquor bottle 10 to obtain the weight change of the mother liquor bottle 10 during the dispensing process. Physiological saline used to dilute the mother liquor during the dispensing operation is placed in a saline bottle 20. A saline bottle lifting rod 91 is rotatably connected to the equipment housing 90, allowing the saline bottle 20 to be suspended on the saline bottle lifting rod 91. The gas source 30 can be an air purification device to provide sterile air to the delivery pipe 50, avoiding contamination of the drug solution. The waste liquid bottle 40 collects the waste liquid generated during the dispensing process. The delivery pipe 50, waste liquid pipe 54, air inlet pipe 53, saline pipe 52, and mother liquor pipe 51 can all be made of food-grade silicone tubing and fixed to the equipment housing 90 using pipe clamps 92. The waste liquid pipe 54, air inlet pipe 53, saline pipe 52, and mother liquor pipe 51 are all connected to the delivery pipe 50 via T-shaped tee pipes, which can be made of polypropylene (PP). All valves 55 on the pipeline are clamp valves, which are opened and closed by clamping or releasing from the outside of the hose, without direct contact with the liquid, thus ensuring the cleanliness of the medicine.

[0022] The level detector 60 is used to detect the position of the liquid within the delivery pipe 50. When the liquid is delivered to the preset position, the level detector 60 sends a signal to the control system. The peristaltic pump 70 can be a stepper motor peristaltic pump. The dispensing container 80 can use multiple syringes of different capacities, which are installed on the side of the equipment housing 90 using syringe clips. After dispensing, the syringes can be removed and used directly for patient injection, thereby avoiding radiation contamination accidents and reducing the radiation exposure of staff.

[0023] The valve 55, level detector 60, peristaltic pump 70, and weighing device 11 are all electrically connected to the control system, sending relevant signals to the control system and receiving control commands from the control system. The control system can refer to relevant technologies.

[0024] In other embodiments, the second end of the conveying pipe 50 may also be sequentially provided with a waste liquid pipe, an air inlet pipe, a mother liquor pipe, and a brine pipe, with the positions of the mother liquor pipe and the brine pipe interchanged compared to this embodiment; the positions of the waste liquid pipe and the air inlet pipe can also be interchanged, or the waste liquid pipe and the air inlet pipe can be connected to the same position on the conveying pipe. All of the above embodiments can achieve dispensing, but the operating sequence needs to be changed accordingly.

[0025] Example 2

[0026] This invention provides a fully automated method for dispensing radiopharmaceuticals, comprising the following steps: S1, Initialization: Fill the mother liquor tube with mother liquor and the saline tube with physiological saline to eliminate errors.

[0027] First, open only the mother liquor pipe valve 55a and start the peristaltic pump 70 to pump the mother liquor into the delivery pipe 50 until the liquid level detector 60 detects the liquid and stops the delivery. Then close the mother liquor pipe valve 55a and open the waste liquid pipe valve 55d. The peristaltic pump 70 rotates in the opposite direction to send the mother liquor in the delivery pipe 50 to the waste liquid bottle 40. Then close the waste liquid pipe valve 55d. The mother liquor pipe 51 is still full of mother liquor. Then, only open the saline tube valve 55b and start the peristaltic pump 70 to pump the saline solution into the delivery tube 50 until the level detector 60 detects the liquid and stops the delivery. Then close the saline tube valve 55b and open the waste liquid tube valve 55d. The peristaltic pump 70 rotates in the opposite direction to send the saline solution in the delivery tube 50 to the waste liquid bottle 40. Then close the waste liquid tube valve 55d. The saline tube 52 is still full of saline solution.

[0028] S2, the control system calculates the required volume of mother liquor and saline solution for dispensing based on the input mother liquor activity, mother liquor volume, set activity, and set volume, and calculates the working time of the peristaltic pump using the peristaltic pump's volumetric flow rate. The set activity is the preset activity of the drug solution dispensed into the dispensing container for one dispensing operation, and the set volume is the preset volume of the drug solution dispensed into the dispensing container for one dispensing operation. The mother liquor activity can be input automatically by the control system reading the activity count value or manually.

[0029] S3, repackaged.

[0030] Before dispensing begins, open the air inlet valve 55c and close other valves. Start the peristaltic pump 70 to pump a small amount of gas into the dispensing container 80. This is to eliminate the static friction between the syringe piston and the cylinder wall, which affects the dispensing accuracy.

[0031] During dispensing, firstly, only the mother liquor pipe valve 55a is opened, and the peristaltic pump 70 is started to draw the mother liquor into the delivery pipe 50 and the dispensing container 80, with the volume of mother liquor required for dispensing being drawn. Next, the mother liquor pipe valve 55a is closed and the saline pipe valve 55b is opened, and the peristaltic pump 70 is started to draw physiological saline into the delivery pipe 50 and the dispensing container 80, with the volume of physiological saline required for dispensing being drawn. The physiological saline pushes all the mother liquor in the delivery pipe 50 into the dispensing container 80. After the physiological saline is completely drawn, a portion remains in the delivery pipe 50. Then, the air inlet valve 55c is opened and other valves are closed, and the peristaltic pump 70 is started to pump the remaining physiological saline in the delivery pipe 50 into the dispensing container 80. This completes one dispensing operation.

[0032] After dispensing is completed, open the waste liquid pipe valve 55d and close the other valves. The peristaltic pump 70 rotates in the reverse direction to discharge the excess gas and a small amount of waste liquid in the delivery pipe 50 into the waste liquid bottle 40.

[0033] Following the method provided in Example 2, three different activity settings were tested for dispensing. The activity settings were divided into three levels: high, low, and low, simulating three common application scenarios. The test results are shown in Tables 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In the tables, the activity setting is the preset activity required for dispensing in this test, the dispensing activity is the actual activity in the dispensing container after dispensing in this test, the set volume is the preset volume required for dispensing in this test, and the dispensing volume is the actual volume in the dispensing container after dispensing in this test.

[0034] The test results show that at higher set activity levels, except for test #1 where the actual activity deviated from the set activity by 10.89%, the activity deviations in other tests were all within 5%. At lower set activity levels, the activity deviation after dispensing was within 3%. At very low set activity levels, the activity deviation after dispensing was within 8%. The activity deviations in all the above tests are lower than the current ±15% activity deviation for manual dispensing in hospitals, and the dispensing volume deviations are also all below 3%.

[0035] Table 1: High Activity Setting Dispensing Test

[0036] Table 2: Low-Set Activity Dispensing Test

[0037] Table 3: Low-Set Activity Dispensing Test

[0038] The above describes one or more embodiments of the present invention in a relatively specific and detailed manner, but it should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the concept of the present invention, and these all fall within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of this patent should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A fully automated radiopharmaceutical dispensing device with high dispensing accuracy, characterized in that, The device includes a delivery pipe and a level detector and a peristaltic pump mounted on the delivery pipe. The first end of the delivery pipe is connected to a dispensing container. The second end of the delivery pipe is connected to a mother liquor bottle via a mother liquor pipe and a brine bottle via a brine pipe. The second end of the delivery pipe is connected to a gas source via an air inlet pipe and a waste liquid bottle via a waste liquid pipe. The mother liquor pipe and the brine pipe are positioned between the air inlet pipe and the level detector, and the mother liquor pipe and the brine pipe are positioned between the waste liquid pipe and the level detector. Each of the mother liquor pipe, the brine pipe, the air inlet pipe, and the waste liquid pipe is equipped with a valve.

2. The fully automated radiopharmaceutical dispensing equipment with high dispensing accuracy according to claim 1, characterized in that, The second end of the conveying pipe is provided with a waste liquid pipe, an air inlet pipe, a brine pipe and a mother liquor pipe in sequence.

3. The fully automated radiopharmaceutical dispensing equipment with high dispensing accuracy according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a weighing device located at the bottom of the mother liquor bottle.

4. The fully automated radiopharmaceutical dispensing equipment with high dispensing accuracy according to claim 3, characterized in that, The valve is a pinch valve, the dispensing container is a syringe, and the gas source provides sterile air.

5. The fully automated radiopharmaceutical dispensing equipment with high dispensing accuracy according to claim 4, characterized in that, It also includes a device housing, on the side of which are provided the weighing device, saline bottle rod and syringe buckle. The delivery pipe, mother liquor pipe, saline pipe, air inlet pipe and waste liquid pipe are all fixed to the device housing by pipe clamps. The top surface of the device housing is provided with the pipe clamp valve, liquid level detector and peristaltic pump.

6. A fully automated method for dispensing radiopharmaceuticals, applied to the fully automated dispensing equipment described in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: S1, fill the mother liquor tube with mother liquor and the saline tube with physiological saline; S2, calculate the required volume of mother liquor and physiological saline for dispensing based on the mother liquor activity, mother liquor volume, set activity, and set volume; S3, start the peristaltic pump to pump the mother liquor and physiological saline into the delivery pipe and the dispensing container according to the required volumes of mother liquor and physiological saline, respectively. Then open the air inlet valve and close the other valves, and start the peristaltic pump to pump the liquid in the delivery pipe into the dispensing container.

7. The fully automated dispensing method for radiopharmaceuticals according to claim 6, characterized in that, The specific process of step S1 is as follows: Open only the mother liquor pipe valve or the saline pipe valve, and start the peristaltic pump to pump the liquid to the delivery pipe until the liquid level detector detects the liquid and stops the delivery. Then close the mother liquor pipe valve or the saline pipe valve, and open the waste liquid pipe valve. The peristaltic pump rotates in the reverse direction to send the liquid in the delivery pipe to the waste liquid bottle, and then close the waste liquid pipe valve. Repeat the above steps to fill the mother liquor pipe with mother liquor and the saline pipe with physiological saline.

8. The fully automated dispensing method for radiopharmaceuticals according to claim 6, characterized in that, The specific process of step S3 is as follows: First, open only the mother liquor pipe valve, start the peristaltic pump to draw the mother liquor into the delivery pipe and the dispensing container, and draw the amount of mother liquor required for dispensing; close the mother liquor pipe valve and open the saline pipe valve, start the peristaltic pump to draw the physiological saline into the delivery pipe and the dispensing container, and draw the amount of physiological saline required for dispensing; open the air inlet pipe valve and close other valves, start the peristaltic pump to pump the liquid in the delivery pipe into the dispensing container.

9. The fully automated dispensing method for radiopharmaceuticals according to claim 8, characterized in that, Step S3 also includes: before dispensing begins, opening the air inlet valve and closing other valves, starting the peristaltic pump to pump a small amount of gas into the dispensing container; after dispensing is completed, opening the waste liquid valve and closing other valves, and the peristaltic pump rotating in the reverse direction to discharge excess gas and a small amount of waste liquid in the delivery pipe into the waste liquid bottle.

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