Development of a New Punch Head Shape to Replicate Scale-Up Issues on a Laboratory Tablet Press III: Replicating Sticking Phenomenon Using the SAS Punch and Evaluation by Checking the Tablet Surface Using 3-D Laser Scanning Microscope

Sticking is a common observation in the scale-up stage on the punch tip using a commercial tableting machine. The difference in the total compression time between a laboratory tableting machine and a commercial one is considered one of the main root causes of scale-up issues in the tableting processes. The proposed “Size Adjusted for Scale-up punch” can be used to adjust the consolidation and dwell times for commercial tableting machine. As a result, the sticking phenomenon is able to be replicated at the pilot scale stage. As reported in this article, the quantification of sticking was done using a 3-D laser scanning microscope to check the tablet surface. It was shown that the sticking area decreased with the addition of magnesium stearate in the formulation, but the sticking depth was not affected by the additional amount of magnesium stearate. It is proposed that the use of a 3-D laser scanning microscope can be applied to evaluate sticking as a process analytical technology tool, and so sticking can be monitored continuously without stopping the machine.