Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5550789 | International Journal of Pharmaceutics | 2017 | 8 Pages |
Near-infrared chemical imaging (NIR-CI) with high-speed cameras based on the push-broom acquisition principle is a rapidly-evolving and can be used for a variety of purposes, from classification (and sorting) of products to mapping spatial distribution of materials. The present study examined if NIR-CI is suitable for tablet manufacturing. To that end, the tablets were introduced into the CI system via a flat belt conveyor. A formulation, which consisted of 4Â wt.%-6Â wt.% caffeine, 5Â wt.% crospovidone as a disintegrant, 88Â wt.%-90Â wt.% lactose as a filler and 1Â wt.% magnesium stearate as a lubricator, was tableted at compression forces ranging from 5Â kN to 30Â kN. The intra- and inter-tablet homogeneity of caffeine and the tablet's hardness were analyzed via NIRâCI. For the homogeneity evaluation, two methods were applied: standard deviation (SD) and distributional homogeneity index (DHI). The results showed that the SD of caffeine in a single tablet increased with an increase in the caffeine content. This was attributed to natural variations in a binary mixture of caffeine and excipients. Overall, the chosen NIR-CI setup has strong potential to be transferred to the production scale to monitor all tablets in a production stream.
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