Design and Manufacture of a Test Device for Radiosynthesizer Vacuum Pumps

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This is a great paper by Diaz et al. that will be particularly useful to radiochemists struggling to keep synthesis modules in working order in high radiation fields. I suggest just minor edits and congratulate the authors on neat idea and a well written paper:

 

Line 33- At St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, we have used IBA Synthera® synthesis 33 modules to produce F-18 labeled radiotracers since 2008 -- can you add a figure that shows the module and an arrow pointing out the vacuum pump and other key components mentioned, for those not familiar with the device?

 

Line 49 -- "pre-synthesis checks"... suggest "pre-synthesis system suitability checks"

 

Line 63 -- maybe cite https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22476015/ as an example of a high volume lab.

 

Throughout -- Testbed and testbed appear to used (unless capital T is the name)... suggest consistency with capital T

 

GMP is a critical part of clinical radiopharmaceutical manufacture -- I think at least a comment about validation of the Testbed, and anything else that might be needed/could be done to use it in a regulated PET facility would strengthen the manuscript.

 

Table 2/3 and associated discussion -- can you include Neptis, Travis and Elixys as other modules that are increasingly widely used?

Author Response

The authors are thankful for your time, effort, and insightful comments which we address individually in the attached document. We feel that your suggestions have improved the quality of the manuscript.

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The authors proposed a dedicated test device to assess new or rebuilt pumps before installation, thus reducing downtime and radiation exposure during repairs. The Testbed incorporates a microprocessor that actuates the pump, valves, and pressure sensor, and communicates with the user through lights, buttons, and an alphanumeric screen. 

1. The paper is interesting. In the introduction, there are researches about the test rig about the pumps, such as Raising the Speed Limit of Axial Piston Pumps by Optimizing the Suction Duct and another type of pump, An automatic three-dimensional loading apparatus for static tests of truss joints. 

2. The paper lack readability. I think the authors should point out the design tasks, like the needed pressure and flow rate for the vacuum pumps, since there are thousands of vacuum pumps with different requirements. 

3. Figure.1, they should make a simulation using AMESIM or Simulink.

4. This paper is like a design specification and the most important thing, it should make a clear logic. other parts seem to be okay. 

Author Response

The authors are thankful for your time, effort, and insightful comments which we address individually in the attached document. We feel that your suggestions have improved the quality of the manuscript.

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

The authors did a nice revision.