Synthesis of 18F-labeled probes on EWOD platform for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) preclinical imaging

We demonstrate the synthesis of 2-[
¹⁸
F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ([
¹⁸
F]FDG) on an electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) platform using multifunctional electrodes (for heating, temperature sensing, and EWOD driving). A revised chemistry to incorporate advantages of microfluidic volumes is used to produce multiple doses of PET tracer for preclinical imaging. The success is confirmed by imaging mice with radiotracers produced on chip. This is an important step toward the development of an affordable, universal synthesizer for imaging tracers used in Positron Emission Tomography (PET).