the 18 f fdg in solution passes from the reaction vessel 110 through a solid phase extraction column 160 in some embodiments of the present invention the solid phase extraction column 160 comprises a length filled with an ion exchange resin a length filled with alumina and a length filled with carbon 18 the 18 f fdg next passes through a filter 170 which in many embodiments includes a millipore filter with pores approximately 0 22 micrometers in diameter once the radiopharmaceutical solution has passed through the filter 170 some of the solution is diverted into the sample card 40 which contains a number of sample vessels 402 a e which in some embodiments each hold approximately 10 microliters of solution the number of sample vessels will vary according to the number of quality control tests to be performed for that run and the system is adapted to operate with different sample cards containing varying numbers of sample vessels the remainder of the radiopharmaceutical solution i e all of the solution that is not diverted for quality control testing flows into the dose vessel 200 ready for administration to a patient once the samples are in the sample vessels 402 a e of the sample card 40 an.