Radioprotective glovebox for preparing radiopharmaceuticals

Abstract

The present invention relates to a radioprotective glovebox for preparing radiopharmaceuticals, the glovebox comprising: - a work compartment (2) equipped with glove ports for the passage of an operator's hands and arms, and - an antechamber compartment (6) enabling the introduction of products or materials into the work compartment (2), which antechamber compartment (6) comprises: · a second antechamber door (64) arranged between the interior antechamber volume (61) and the work compartment (2), and · a sliding drawer (66). In the glovebox according to the invention, the second antechamber door (64) and optionally the sliding drawer (66) are each equipped with a motorised drive means (7, 8) to enable automatic opening and closing manoeuvres, which motorised drive means (7, 8) can be deactivated to enable manual opening and closing manoeuvres.

Description

[0001] Description

[0002] Manually operated radiation-protective enclosure for the preparation of radiopharmaceutical products

[0003] Technical field of the invention

[0004] The present invention relates to the technical field of equipment for the protection of operators against radiation emitted by radioelements.

[0005] It relates in particular to manual radio-protective enclosures, commonly referred to as "glove boxes" and "shielded enclosures", which are suitable for handling by an operator of radioelements, for example for the preparation of low, medium and high energy radiopharmaceutical products or compositions.

[0006] State of the art

[0007] Due to their radiation, handling radioelements requires the use of appropriate protective equipment.

[0008] This is the case, for example, in the field of nuclear medicine, particularly for the preparation of low, medium and high energy radiopharmaceutical products or compositions.

[0009] To ensure this protection, the operations can be carried out within a radiation-protective enclosure commonly referred to as a "glove box" or "shielded enclosure".

[0010] For this purpose, such a radiation-protective enclosure typically includes:

[0011] - a watertight work compartment, defining an internal work volume and equipped with glove loops for an operator's arms, and also

[0012] - an airlock compartment delimiting an internal airlock volume, allowing the introduction of products or materials into the internal volume of the work compartment.

[0013] The airlock compartment includes a first airlock door interposed between said inner airlock volume and the outside of the enclosure, which is equipped with an operating handle; and this airlock compartment includes a second airlock door interposed between the inner airlock volume and the inner working volume, which second airlock door is also equipped with an operating handle, for its manual opening and closing maneuvers by the operator from the inner volume of the working compartment (sealed handling volume).

[0014] The airlock compartment typically includes a sliding drawer for collecting products or materials to be transferred; this drawer is equipped with a handle, designed for manual opening and closing by the operator from inside the work area. In practice, such an enclosure allows, for example, the elution of radioactive solutions (e.g., Technetium (Tc99m) generators), the reconstitution of radiopharmaceutical kits, or the preparation of patient syringes for conventional scintigraphic examinations.

[0015] To ensure its operation, the radiation-protective enclosure includes various electronic equipment, controllable by an operator, via a control panel located outside the internal volume of the work compartment.

[0016] However, manual operations by the operator of the second airlock door, and also of the sliding drawer, from the interior volume of the work compartment, are sometimes uncomfortable or difficult to perform in certain situations, particularly due to his hands and arms being inserted into the glove rings.

[0017] Moreover, such manual maneuvers can take some time and, even if the operator's arms are properly protected, still pose an increased risk of exposure to radioactive radiation.

[0018] Presentation of the invention

[0019] To overcome the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art, the present invention proposes a manually operated radiation-protective enclosure for the preparation of radiopharmaceutical products, which enclosure comprises:

[0020] - a work compartment defining an internal work volume and equipped with glove loops for an operator's arms to pass into the internal volume of said work compartment, and

[0021] - an airlock compartment delimiting an internal airlock volume, allowing the introduction of products or materials into said internal volume of the work compartment, which airlock compartment includes a first airlock door interposed between said internal airlock volume and the outside of the enclosure, which first airlock door is equipped with an operating handle, which airlock compartment includes a second airlock door interposed between said internal airlock volume and said internal work volume, which second airlock door is equipped with an operating handle, for its manual opening and closing by said operator from the internal volume of said work compartment, which airlock compartment includes a sliding drawer equipped with an operating handle, also for its manual opening and closing by said operator from the internal volume of said work compartment,This manually operated radiation-protective enclosure is characterized by the fact that:

[0022] - that said second airlock door is equipped with a door motor allowing automatic opening and closing maneuvers, - that it includes suitable control means to operate said door motor to allow automatic opening and closing maneuvers of said second airlock door,

[0023] -and that it includes suitable means of deactivation to disable said door motorization to allow said manual opening and closing maneuvers of said second airlock door.

[0024] These features provide the operator with a choice of how to operate the airlock door, depending on the situation, particularly to gain comfort and / or operating time, thus limiting the risks of exposure to ionizing radiation.

[0025] Preferably the sliding drawer is equipped in the same way.

[0026] Thus, this sliding drawer is advantageously equipped with a drawer motor allowing automatic opening and closing maneuvers, the enclosure includes suitable control means to control said drawer motor to allow automatic opening and closing maneuvers of said sliding drawer, and the enclosure includes suitable deactivation means to deactivate said drawer motor to allow said manual opening and closing maneuvers of said sliding drawer.

[0027] Other non-limiting and advantageous features of the manual radio-protective enclosure according to the invention, taken individually or in all technically possible combinations, are as follows:

[0028] - the manual enclosure includes: - first means of control adapted to control the opening of the second airlock door, then the opening of the sliding drawer, and - second means of control adapted to control the closing of the sliding drawer, then the closing of the second airlock door;

[0029] - the second airlock door includes an inflatable door seal, equipped with means for its inflation and means for its deflation, said first control means are adapted to control the deflation of said inflatable seal before the opening of the second airlock door, and said second control means are adapted to control the inflation of said inflatable seal after the closing of the second airlock door;

[0030] - the enclosure includes deactivation means which are suitable for deactivating the door motorization to allow said manual opening and closing maneuvers of the second airlock door, and for deactivating the drawer motorization to allow said manual opening and closing maneuvers of the sliding drawer, and it further includes activation means which are suitable for activating the door motorization to allow said automatic opening and closing maneuvers of the second airlock door, and for activating the drawer motorization to allow said automatic opening and closing maneuvers of the sliding drawer;

[0031] - the door motorization and the drawer motorization consist of pneumatic cylinders. Preferably, these pneumatic cylinders comprise a cylinder body delimiting an internal volume, and a cylinder piston separating said internal volume into two cylinder chambers, and said two cylinder chambers comprise valve structures: - of which a closed position allows the use of said pneumatic cylinders for the automatic opening and closing maneuvers of the second airlock door and the sliding drawer, and - of which an open position allows their communication with the ambient air, for the deactivation operations of said pneumatic cylinders and the manual opening and closing maneuvers of the second airlock door and the sliding drawer;

[0032] Of course, the different features, variants and embodiments of the invention can be combined with each other in various ways as long as they are not incompatible or mutually exclusive.

[0033] Detailed description of the invention

[0034] Furthermore, various other features of the invention become apparent from the attached description made with reference to the drawings which illustrate one, non-limiting, embodiment of the invention and where:

[0035] [Fig. 1] is a schematic, perspective view showing a manual radiation-protective enclosure according to the invention;

[0036] [Fig. 2] is an enlarged schematic view of part of the radiation-protective enclosure of Figure 1, showing the interior of the work compartment, airlock compartment side, here with the second airlock door in the closed position;

[0037] [Fig. 3] is a view similar to figure 2, here with the second airlock door in the open position and the sliding drawer of the airlock compartment in the closed (retracted) position;

[0038] [Fig. 4] is a view similar to figures 2 and 3, here with the second airlock door in the open position and the sliding drawer of the airlock compartment in the partially open (deployed) position.

[0039] The manual radio-protective enclosure 1 (or enclosure 1 or radio-protective enclosure 1, or manual enclosure 1) according to the invention, shown in figures 1 to 4, is adapted for the handling of radioelements by an operator.

[0040] Such a radio-protective enclosure 1 is suitable for the field of nuclear medicine, in particular for the preparation of low, medium and high energy radiopharmaceutical products or compositions.

[0041] Such an enclosure 1 allows, for example, the elution of Technetium (Tc99m) generators, the reconstitution of radiopharmaceutical kits, or the preparation of patient syringes for conventional scintigraphic examinations. This radiation-protective enclosure 1 is commonly referred to as a "glove box," "shielded enclosure," "shielded cell," "glove box," or "hot cell."

[0042] In this sense, the radio-protective enclosure 1 includes a working compartment 2 delimited by radio-protective walls (advantageously comprising a radio-attenuating material, for example lead, a plastic material loaded with radio-protective metallic particles, or glass loaded with radio-protective metallic particles) delimiting a sealed internal working volume 3 intended to contain in particular the radioelements to be handled.

[0043] Preferably, the internal working volume 3 is under internal negative pressure by means of an air suction system.

[0044] The radiation-shielding walls that delimit work compartment 2 include, in particular:

[0045] - a frontal radiation-protective screen 21, opposite which an operator is intended to position themselves during handling operations, and

[0046] - two lateral radio-protective walls 22, bordering laterally the frontal radio-protective wall 21.

[0047] The front radiation-protective wall 21 has a transparent part, to allow visual access to the internal working volume 3.

[0048] It also includes two lights 4 (not shown in figures 2 to 4), each of which is equipped with a glove 5 (protruding into the inner volume 3) for the passage of hands and arms for the various manipulations within the inner working volume 3 by the operator.

[0049] The light assembly 4 / glove 5 is generally referred to as the "glove ring".

[0050] Each glove 5 is sealed, hermetically with its associated light 4.

[0051] At least one of the radiation-protective walls of the work compartment 2, here each of the two lateral radiation-protective walls 22, is also equipped with an airlock compartment 6 (also called a "transfer box") delimiting an internal airlock volume 61.

[0052] Such an airlock compartment 6 is useful for transferring accessories / materials and / or consumables from the outside to the internal working volume 3, and vice versa.

[0053] For operator protection, each airlock compartment 6 includes a first airlock door 62 interposed between said internal volume of airlock 61 and the outside of enclosure 1.

[0054] This first airlock door 62 is equipped with an operating handle 63.

[0055] The airlock compartment 6 includes a second airlock door 64 interposed between the internal airlock volume 61 and the internal working volume 3. This second airlock door 64 is equipped with an operating handle 65 for manual opening and closing by the operator from the internal working volume 3 of the working compartment 2. The first airlock door 62 can be automatically locked and can be unlocked by means of a control available to the operator. This unlocking is only possible if the second airlock door 64 is in the closed position.

[0056] The second airlock door 64 may include a peripheral safety seal.

[0057] This safety seal is advantageously an inflatable / deflligible type seal, combined with suitable conventional means allowing its inflation to optimize its sealing, and its deflation to allow the door to be opened.

[0058] The airlock compartment 6 also includes a sliding drawer 66 equipped with a handle 67, for its manual opening and closing maneuvers by the operator from the internal working volume 3 of the working compartment 2.

[0059] Within the manual radio-protective enclosure 1 according to the invention:

[0060] - the second airlock door 64 is equipped with a door motor 7 allowing automatic opening and closing; and this door motor 7 is designed to be deactivated (or disconnectable or disengageable) to allow manual opening and closing, and

[0061] - the sliding drawer 66 is equipped with a drawer motor 8 allowing automatic opening and closing maneuvers, which drawer motor 8 is also provided to be deactivated (or disconnectable or disengageable) to allow manual opening and closing maneuvers.

[0062] By "opening" of the sliding drawer 66 we mean its extraction from the inner volume of airlock 61 to the inner volume 3 of the work compartment 2, as illustrated in figure 4.

[0063] And by "closing" of the sliding drawer 66 we mean its complete penetration into the internal volume of the airlock 61 as illustrated in figure 3.

[0064] The door motorization 7 and the drawer motorization 8 advantageously consist of pneumatic cylinders.

[0065] These pneumatic cylinders 7, 8 each comprise a cylinder body 9 delimiting an internal volume 10, and a cylinder piston 11 separating said internal volume 10 into two cylinder chambers 12 and 13. These two cylinder chambers 12 and 13 comprise reversible opening means (not shown) allowing their communication with the ambient air, for the deactivation operations of the cylinders 7, 8.

[0066] The manual enclosure 1 includes control means for activating and deactivating the door motor 7 and the drawer motor 8; and it also includes control means for the door motor 7 and control means for the drawer motor 8.

[0067] More specifically, enclosure 1 includes:

[0068] - first control means 14, adapted to control the opening of the second door of airlock 64, then the opening of the sliding drawer 66, and - second control means 15 adapted to control the closing of the sliding drawer 66, then the closing of the second door of airlock 64.

[0069] And, as is the case here, if the second airlock door 64 includes an inflatable door seal, equipped with means for its inflation and deflation, then these first control means 14 are adapted to control the deflation of the inflatable seal before the opening of the second airlock door 64, while the second control means 15 are adapted to control the inflation of said inflatable seal after the closing of the second airlock door 64.

[0070] The first means of control 14 here consist of a control pedal 14 located in the lower part of the manual enclosure 1 and which the operator can operate with the foot.

[0071] The second control means 15 consist of another control pedal 15 also located in the lower part of the manual enclosure 1 and which the operator can operate with the foot.

[0072] The manual enclosure 1 includes suitable deactivation means to deactivate the door motor 7 to allow said manual opening and closing maneuvers of the second airlock door 64, and to deactivate the drawer motor 8 to allow said manual opening and closing maneuvers of the sliding drawer 66; and it also includes suitable activation means to activate the door motor 7 to allow said automatic opening and closing maneuvers of the second airlock door 64, and to activate the drawer motor 8 to allow said automatic opening and closing maneuvers of the sliding drawer 66.

[0073] In the illustrated embodiment, these activation / deactivation control means consist of a two-position valve 16:

[0074] - one allowing communication between the two cylinder chambers 12 and 13 of the pneumatic cylinders 7, 8 and the ambient air, by the aforementioned reversible opening means,

[0075] - and the other allowing the closure of these reversible opening means.

[0076] As can be seen in Figure 1, this control valve 16 can be located in the lower part of the manual enclosure 1.

[0077] In one alternative embodiment, the sliding drawer 66 may not be motorized.

[0078] In yet another embodiment, the pneumatic cylinders 7 and 8 can be replaced by electric actuators, their control means and their activation / deactivation means being adapted accordingly.

Claims

8 Demands

1. A manually operated radiation-shielding enclosure (1) for the preparation of radiopharmaceutical products, which enclosure (1) comprises: - a work compartment (2) delimiting an internal work volume (3) and equipped with glove loops (4, 5) for the passage of an operator's arms into the internal work volume (3) of said work compartment (2), and - an airlock compartment (6) delimiting an internal airlock volume (61), allowing the introduction of products or materials into said internal working volume (3) of the working compartment (2), which airlock compartment (6) includes a first airlock door (62) interposed between said internal airlock volume (61) and the outside of the enclosure (1), which first airlock door (62) is equipped with an operating handle (63), which airlock compartment (6) includes a second airlock door (64) interposed between said internal airlock volume (61) and said internal working volume (3), which second airlock door (64) is equipped with an operating handle (65), for its manual opening and closing by said operator from the internal working volume (3) of said working compartment (2), which airlock compartment (6) includes a sliding drawer (66) equipped with an operating handle (67),also for its manual opening and closing maneuvers by said operator from the interior working volume (3) of said work compartment (2), the enclosure (1) being characterized in that said second airlock door (64) is equipped with a door motor (7) allowing automatic opening and closing maneuvers, in that it includes control means (14, 15) adapted to control said door motor (7) to allow automatic opening and closing maneuvers of said second airlock door (64), and in that it includes deactivation means (16) adapted to deactivate said door motor (7) to allow said manual opening and closing maneuvers of said second airlock door (64).

2. Manual radio-protective enclosure (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said sliding drawer (66) is equipped with a drawer motor (8) allowing automatic opening and closing maneuvers, in that said enclosure (1) includes control means (14, 15) adapted to control said drawer motor (8) to allow automatic opening and closing maneuvers of said sliding drawer (66), 9 and in that it includes deactivation means (16) adapted to deactivate said drawer motorization (8) to permit said manual opening and closing maneuvers of said sliding drawer (66). [Claims] A manually operated radiation-protective enclosure (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that it comprises: - initial control means (14) adapted to control the opening of the second airlock door (64), then the opening of the sliding drawer (66), and - second means of control (15) adapted to control the closing of the sliding drawer (66), then the closing of the second door of the airlock (64).

4. Manual radio-protective enclosure (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the second airlock door (64) comprises an inflatable door seal, provided with means for its inflation and means for its deflation, said first control means (14) being adapted to control the deflation of said inflatable seal before the opening of the second airlock door (64), and said second control means (15) being adapted to control the inflation of said inflatable seal after the closing of the second airlock door (64). [Claims] Manual radio-protective enclosure (1) according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that it comprises deactivation means (16) adapted to deactivate said door motorization (7) to allow said manual opening and closing maneuvers of the second airlock door (64), and to deactivate said drawer motorization (8) to allow said manual opening and closing maneuvers of said sliding drawer (66), and in that it comprises activation means (16) adapted to activate said door motorization (7) to allow said automatic opening and closing maneuvers of the second airlock door (64), and to activate said drawer motorization (8) to allow said automatic opening and closing maneuvers of said sliding drawer (66).

6. Manual radio-protective enclosure (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said door motorization (7) and said drawer motorization (8) consist of pneumatic cylinders (7, 8).

7. Manual radio-protective enclosure (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that said pneumatic cylinders (7, 8) comprise a cylinder body (9) delimiting an internal volume (10), and a cylinder piston (11) separating said internal volume (10) into two cylinder chambers (12, 13), and in that said two cylinder chambers (12, 13) include valve structures, a closed position of which allows the use of said pneumatic cylinders (7, 8) for the automatic opening and closing maneuvers of the second airlock door (64) and the sliding drawer (66), and an open position of which allows their communication with the ambient air, for the deactivation operations of said pneumatic cylinders (7, 8) and the manual opening and closing maneuvers of the second airlock door (64) and the sliding drawer (66).

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