Measuring Open Porosity of Porous Materials Using THz-TDS and an Index-Matching Medium.

The porosity of porous materials is a critical quality attribute of many products ranging from catalysis and separation technologies to porous paper and pharmaceutical tablets. The open porosity in particular, which reflects the pore space accessible from the surface, is crucial for applications where a fluid needs to access the pores in order to fulfil the functionality of the product. This study presents a methodology that uses terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) coupled with an index-matching medium to measure the open porosity and analyze scattering losses of powder compacts. The open porosity can be evaluated without the knowledge of the refractive index of the fully dense material. This method is demonstrated for pellets compressed of pharmaceutical-grade lactose powder. Powder was compressed at four different pressures and measured by THz-TDS before and after they were soaked in an index-matching medium, i.e., paraffin. Determining the change in refractive index of the dry and soaked samples enabled the calculation of the open porosity. The results reveal that the open porosity is consistently lower than the total porosity and it decreases with increasing compression pressure. The scattering losses reduce significantly for the soaked samples and the scattering centers (particle and/or pore sizes) are of the order of or somewhat smaller than the terahertz wavelength. This new method facilitates the development of a better understanding of the links between material properties (particles size), pellet properties (open porosity) and performance-related properties, e.g., disintegration and dissolution performance of pharmaceutical tablets.

Quantification of Inkjet-Printed Pharmaceuticals on Porous Substrates Using Raman Spectroscopy and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

The use of inkjet printing for pharmaceutical manufacturing is gaining interest for production of personalized dosage forms tailored to specific patients. As part of the manufacturing, it is imperative to ensure that the correct dose is printed. The aim of this study was to use inkjet printing for manufacturing of personalized dosage forms combined with the use of near-infrared (NIR) and Raman spectroscopy as complementary analytical techniques for active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) quantification of the inkjet-printed dosage forms. Three APIs, propranolol (0.5-4.1 mg), montelukast (2.1-12.1 mg), and haloperidol (0.6-4.1 mg) were inkjet printed in 1 cm2 areas on a porous substrate. The printed doses were non-destructively analyzed by transmission NIR and Raman spectroscopy (both transmission and backscatter). X-ray computed microtomography (µ-CT) analysis was undertaken for porosity measurements of the substrate. The API content was confirmed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and the content in the dosage forms was modeled from the NIR and Raman spectra using partial least squares regression (PLS). HPLC analysis revealed a linear correlation of the number of layers printed to the API content. The resulting PLS models for both NIR and Raman had R2 values between 0.95 and 0.99. The best predictive model was obtained using NIR, followed by Raman spectroscopy. µ-CT revealed the substrate to be highly porous and optimal for inkjet printing. In conclusion, NIR and Raman spectroscopic techniques could be used complementary as fast API quantification tools for inkjet-printed medicines.

Correction to: Quantification of Inkjet-Printed Pharmaceuticals on Porous Substrates Using Raman Spectroscopy and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

Mohammed Al-Sharabi's affiliation was incorrect at the time of publishing. The updated affiliation appears below.

A Review of Disintegration Mechanisms and Measurement Techniques.

Pharmaceutical solid dosage forms (tablets or capsules) are the predominant form to administer active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to the patient. Tablets are typically powder compacts consisting of several different excipients in addition to the API. Excipients are added to a formulation in order to achieve the desired fill weight of a dosage form, to improve the processability or to affect the drug release behaviour in the body. These complex porous systems undergo different mechanisms when they come in contact with physiological fluids. The performance of a drug is primarily influenced by the disintegration and dissolution behaviour of the powder compact. The disintegration process is specifically critical for immediate-release dosage forms. Its mechanisms and the factors impacting disintegration are discussed and methods used to study the disintegration in-situ are presented. This review further summarises mathematical models used to simulate disintegration phenomena and to predict drug release kinetics.

Non-destructive Determination of Disintegration Time and Dissolution in Immediate Release Tablets by Terahertz Transmission Measurements.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to establish the suitability of terahertz (THz) transmission measurements to accurately measure and predict the critical quality attributes of disintegration time and the amount of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) dissolved after 15, 20 and 25 min for commercial tablets processed at production scale. METHODS: Samples of 18 batches of biconvex tablets from a production-scale design of experiments study into exploring the design space of a commercial tablet manufacturing process were used. The tablet production involved the process steps of high-shear wet granulation, fluid-bed drying and subsequent compaction. The 18 batches were produced using a 4 factor split plot design to study the effects of process changes on the disintegration time. Non-destructive and contactless terahertz transmission measurements of the whole tablets without prior sample preparation were performed to measure the effective refractive index and absorption coefficient of 6 tablets per batch. RESULTS: The disintegration time (R 2 = 0.86) and API dissolved after 15 min (R 2 = 0.96) linearly correlates with the effective refractive index, n eff, measured at terahertz frequencies. In contrast, no such correlation could be established from conventional hardness measurements. The magnitude of n eff represents the optical density of the sample and thus it reflects both changes in tablet porosity as well as granule density. For the absorption coefficient, α eff, we observed a better correlation with dissolution after 20 min (R 2 = 0.96) and a weaker correlation with disintegration (R 2 = 0.83) compared to n eff. CONCLUSION: The measurements of n eff and α eff provide promising predictors for the disintegration and dissolution time of tablets. The high penetration power of terahertz radiation makes it possible to sample a significant volume proportion of a tablet without any prior sample preparation. Together with the short measurement time (seconds), the potential to measure content uniformity and the fact that the method requires no chemometric models this technology shows clear promise to be established as a process analyser to non-destructively predict critical quality attributes of tablets.

Analysis of 3D Prints by X-ray Computed Microtomography and Terahertz Pulsed Imaging.

PURPOSE: A 3D printer was used to realise compartmental dosage forms containing multiple active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) formulations. This work demonstrates the microstructural characterisation of 3D printed solid dosage forms using X-ray computed microtomography (XµCT) and terahertz pulsed imaging (TPI). METHODS: Printing was performed with either polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) or polylactic acid (PLA). The structures were examined by XµCT and TPI. Liquid self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) formulations containing saquinavir and halofantrine were incorporated into the 3D printed compartmentalised structures and in vitro drug release determined. RESULTS: A clear difference in terms of pore structure between PVA and PLA prints was observed by extracting the porosity (5.5% for PVA and 0.2% for PLA prints), pore length and pore volume from the XµCT data. The print resolution and accuracy was characterised by XµCT and TPI on the basis of the computer-aided design (CAD) models of the dosage form (compartmentalised PVA structures were 7.5 ± 0.75% larger than designed; n = 3). CONCLUSIONS: The 3D printer can reproduce specific structures very accurately, whereas the 3D prints can deviate from the designed model. The microstructural information extracted by XµCT and TPI will assist to gain a better understanding about the performance of 3D printed dosage forms.

The significance of the amorphous potential energy landscape for dictating glassy dynamics and driving solid-state crystallisation.

The fundamental origins surrounding the dynamics of disordered solids near their characteristic glass transitions continue to be fiercely debated, even though a vast number of materials can form amorphous solids, including small-molecule organic, inorganic, covalent, metallic, and even large biological systems. The glass-transition temperature, Tg, can be readily detected by a diverse set of techniques, but given that these measurement modalities probe vastly different processes, there has been significant debate regarding the question of why Tg can be detected across all of them. Here we show clear experimental and computational evidence in support of a theory that proposes that the shape and structure of the potential-energy surface (PES) is the fundamental factor underlying the glass-transition processes, regardless of the frequency that experimental methods probe. Whilst this has been proposed previously, we demonstrate, using ab initio molecular-dynamics (AIMD) simulations, that it is of critical importance to carefully consider the complete PES - both the intra-molecular and inter-molecular features - in order to fully understand the entire range of atomic-dynamical processes in disordered solids. Finally, we show that it is possible to utilise this dependence to directly manipulate and harness amorphous dynamics in order to control the behaviour of such solids by using high-powered terahertz pulses to induce crystallisation and preferential crystal-polymorph growth in glasses. Combined, these findings provide compelling evidence that the PES landscape, and the corresponding energy barriers, are the ultimate controlling feature behind the atomic and molecular dynamics of disordered solids, regardless of the frequency at which they occur.

Empirical Model Variability: Developing a new global optimisation approach to populate compression and compaction mixture rules.

This study systematically evaluated the predictive accuracy of common empirical models for pharmaceutical powder compaction. A dataset of nine placebo and twelve active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) loaded blend formulations (four APIs at three drug loadings) was fitted to the widely used empirical tablet compression (Gurnham, Heckel, and Kawakita) and compaction (Ryshkewitch-Duckworth and Leuenberger) models. At low API loadings (<20w/w%), all models achieved R2 above 90 % and RRMSE (relative root mean squared error) below 0.1. However, as API loads increased, overall model performance decreased, notably in the Heckel model. A parameter variability analysis identified multiple parameter pairs achieving acceptable fits. Consequently, a novel global optimization approach was developed populating arithmetic, geometric, and harmonic mixture rules for empirical tuning parameters. This method outperformed the traditional line of best fit approach. A cross validation study revealed that this method is capable of predicting tuning parameters which achieve an acceptable Goodness of Fit for new blends. Finally, with the restriction of maintaining consistent parameters for the placebo blend, the proposed method could substantially reduce the experimental requirements and API consumption for the exploration of new blends.

Impact of immediate release film coating on the disintegration process of tablets.

Pharmaceutical tablets are often coated with a layer of polymeric material to protect the drug from environmental degradation, facilitate the packaging process, and enhance patient compliance. However, the detailed effects of such coating layers on drug release are not well understood. To investigate this, flat-faced pure microcrystalline cellulose tablets with a diameter of 13 mm and a thickness between 1.5 mm to 1.6 mm were directly compressed, and a film coating layer with a thickness of 80 µm to 120 µm was applied to one face of these tablets. This tablet geometry and immediate release film coating were chosen as a model system to understand how the film coating interacts with the tablet core. The coating hydration and dissolution process was studied using terahertz pulsed imaging, while optical coherence tomography was used to capture further details on the swelling process of the polymer in the coated tablet. The study investigated the film coating polymer dissolution process and found the gelling of dissolving polymer restricted the capillary liquid transport in the core. These findings can help predict the dissolution of film coating within the typical range of thickness (30 µm to 40 µm) and potentially be extended to understand modified release coating formulations.

Flexible modelling of the dissolution performance of directly compressed tablets.

In this study, a compartmental disintegration and dissolution model is proposed for the prediction and evaluation of the dissolution performance of directly compressed tablets. This dissolution model uses three compartments (Bound, Disintegrated, and Dissolved) to describe the state of each particle of active pharmaceutical ingredient. The disintegration of the tablet is captured by three fitting parameters. Two disintegration parameters, ß0 and ßt,0, describe the initial disintegration rate and the change in disintegration rate, respectively. A third parameter, α, describes the effect of the volume of dissolved drug on the disintegration process. As the tablet disintegrates, particles become available for dissolution. The dissolution rate is determined by the Nernst-Brunner equation, whilst taking into account the hydrodynamic effects within the vessel of a USP II (paddle) apparatus. This model uses the raw material properties of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (solubility, particle size distribution, true density), lending it towards early development activities during which time the amount of drug substance available may be limited. Additionally, the strong correlations between the fitting parameters and the tablet porosity indicate the potential to isolate the manufacturing effects and thus implement the model as part of a real-time release testing strategy for a continuous direct compression line.

Supervisory control system for monitoring a pharmaceutical hot melt extrusion process.

Continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing processes are of increased industrial interest and require uni- and multivariate Process Analytical Technology (PAT) data from different unit operations to be aligned and explored within the Quality by Design (QbD) context. Real-time pharmaceutical process verification is accomplished by monitoring univariate (temperature, pressure, etc.) and multivariate (spectra, images, etc.) process parameters and quality attributes, to provide an accurate state estimation of the process, required for advanced control strategies. This paper describes the development and use of such tools for a continuous hot melt extrusion (HME) process, monitored with generic sensors and a near-infrared (NIR) spectrometer in real-time, using SIPAT (Siemens platform to collect, display, and extract process information) and additional components developed as needed. The IT architecture of such a monitoring procedure based on uni- and multivariate sensor systems and their integration in SIPAT is shown. SIPAT aligned spectra from the extrudate (in the die section) with univariate measurements (screw speed, barrel temperatures, material pressure, etc.). A multivariate supervisory quality control strategy was developed for the process to monitor the hot melt extrusion process on the basis of principal component analysis (PCA) of the NIR spectra. Monitoring the first principal component and the time-aligned reference feed rate enables the determination of the residence time in real-time.

Formulation-dependent stability mechanisms affecting dissolution performance of directly compressed griseofulvin tablets.

During drug product development, stability studies are used to ensure that the safety and efficacy of a product are not affected during storage. Any change in the dissolution performance of a product must be investigated, as this may indicate a change in the bioavailability. In this study, three different griseofulvin formulations were prepared containing microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) with either mannitol, lactose monohydrate, or dibasic calcium phosphate anhydrous (DCPA). The tensile strength, porosity, contact angle, disintegration time, and dissolution rate were measured after storage under five different accelerated temperature and humidity conditions for 1, 2, and 4 weeks. The dissolution rate was found to decrease after storage for all three batches, with the change in dissolution rate strongly correlating with the storage humidity. The changes in physical properties of each formulation were found to relate to either the premature swelling (MCC/DCPA, MCC/lactose) or dissolution (MCC/mannitol) of particles during storage. These results are also discussed with consideration of the performance- and stability-controlling mechanisms of placebo tablets of the same formulations (Maclean et al., 2021; Maclean et al., 2022).

Modelling the Evolution of Pore Structure during the Disintegration of Pharmaceutical Tablets.

Pharmaceutical tablet disintegration is a critical process for dissolving and enabling the absorption of the drug substance into the blood stream. The tablet disintegration process consists of multiple connected and interdependent mechanisms: liquid penetration, swelling, dissolution, and break-up. One key dependence is the dynamic change of the pore space in a tablet caused by the swelling of particles while the tablet takes up liquid. This study analysed the changes in the pore structure during disintegration by coupling the discrete element method (DEM) with a single-particle swelling model and experimental liquid penetration data from terahertz-pulsed imaging (TPI). The coupled model is demonstrated and validated for pure microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) tablets across three porosities (10, 15, and 22%) and MCC with three different concentrations of croscarmellose sodium (CCS) (2, 5, and 8% w/w). The model was validated using experimental tablet swelling from TPI. The model captured the difference in the swelling behaviour of tablets with different porosities and formulations well. Both the experimental and modelling results showed that the swelling was lowest (i.e., time to reach the maximum normalised swelling capacity) for tablets with the highest CCS concentration, cCCS = 8%. The simulations revealed that this was caused by the closure of the pores in both the wetted volume and dry volume of the tablet. The closure of the pores hinders the liquid from accessing other particles and slows down the overall swelling process. This study provides new insights into the changes in the pore space during disintegration, which is crucial to better understand the impact of porosity and formulations on the performance of tablets.

At-line porosity sensing for non-destructive disintegration testing in immediate release tablets.

Fully automated at-line terahertz time-domain spectroscopy in transmission mode is used to measure tablet porosity for thousands of immediate release tablets. The measurements are rapid and non-destructive. Both laboratory prepared tablets and commercial samples are studied. Multiple measurements on individual tablets quantify the random errors in the terahertz results. These show that the measurements of refractive index are precise, with the standard deviation on a single tablet being about 0.002, with variation between measurements being due to small errors in thickness measurement and from the resolution of the instrument. Six batches of 1000 tablets each were directly compressed using a rotary press. The tabletting turret speed (10 and 30 rpm) and compaction pressure (50, 100 and 200 MPa) were varied between the batches. As expected, the tablets compacted at the highest pressure have far lower porosity than those compacted at the lowest pressure. The turret rotation speed also has a significant effect on porosity. This variation in process parameters resulted in batches of tablets with an average porosity between 5.5 and 26.5%. Within each batch, there is a distribution of porosity values, the standard deviation of which is in the range 1.1 to 1.9%. Destructive measurements of disintegration time were performed in order to develop a predictive model correlating disintegration time and tablet porosity. Testing of the model suggested it was reasonable though there may be some small systematic errors in disintegration time measurement. The terahertz measurements further showed that there are changes in tablet properties after storage for nine months in ambient conditions.

Investigating the role of excipients on the physical stability of directly compressed tablets.

Stability studies are an integral part of the drug development process for any drug product. In addition to monitoring chemical degradation, the physical stability of a drug product must also be evaluated to ensure that the drug release and performance is not affected by storage. In this study, directly compressed tablets of 16 different formulations were exposed to an accelerated stability program to quantify changes in tablet breaking force, porosity, contact angle and disintegration time. Tablets were exposed to five different storage conditions from 37∘ C/30% relative humidity (RH) to 70∘ C/75%RH with testing after 2 and 4 weeks of storage. Each formulation contained two different fillers (47% w/w each), a disintegrant (5% w/w) and magnesium stearate (1% w/w). The results show that tablets stored at high humidity show increases in porosity and decreases in tensile strength, particularly if they contain a highly hygroscopic filler such as microcrystalline cellulose (MCC). For tablets stored at high temperature, the most commonly affected property was the tablet wettability, measured by sessile drop contact angle measurements. These results are considered in combination with the performance-controlling disintegration mechanism (Maclean et al., 2021) to identify the critical properties which influence the performance after storage.

Manufacture of tablets with structurally-controlled drug release using rapid tooling injection moulding.

With advancements in the pharmaceutical industry pushing more towards tailored medicines, novel approaches to tablet manufacture are in high demand. One of the main drivers towards micro-scale batch production is the ability to fine-tune drug release. This study demonstrates the use of rapid tooling injection moulding (RTIM) for tablet manufacture. Tablets were manufactured with varying structural features to alter the surface area whilst maintaining the same volume, resulting in differing specific surface area (SSA). The precision of this technique is evaluated based on eleven polymer formulations, with the tablets displaying <2% variability in mass. Further tablets were produced containing paracetamol in three different polymer-based formulations to investigate the impact of SSA on the drug release. Significant differences were observed between the formulations based on the polymers polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and Klucel ELF. The polymer base of the formulation was found to be critical to the sensitivity of the drug release profile to SSA modification. The drug release profile within each formulation was modified by the addition of structural features to increase the SSA.

Comparative studies of powder flow predictions using milligrams of powder for identifying powder flow issues.

Characterising powder flowability can be challenging when sample quantity is insufficient for a conventional shear cell test, especially in the pharmaceutical industry, where the cost of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) used is expensive at an early stage in the drug product development. A previous study demonstrated that powder flowability could be predicted based on powder physical properties and cohesiveness using a small quantity of powder samples (50 mg), but it remained an open question regarding the accuracy of the prediction compared to that measured using industry-standard shear cell testers and its potential to substitute the existing testers. In this study, 16 pharmaceutical powders were selected for a detailed comparative study of the predictive model. The flowability of the powders was predicted using a Bond number and given consolidation stresses, σ1, coupled with the model, where the Bond number represents powder cohesiveness. Compared to the measurements using a Powder Flow Tester (Brookfield) and an FT4 (Freeman Technology) Powder Rheometer shear cell tester, the results showed a good agreement between the predictions and the measurements (<22 % difference) from the two shear cell testers with different consolidation stresses, especially for cohesive materials. The model correctly predicts the class of flowability for 14 and 12 of the 16 powders for the PFT and the FT4, respectively. The study demonstrated that the prediction method of powder flowability using a small sample (50 mg) could substitute a standard shear cell test (>15 g) if the available amount of sample is small.

Tablet disintegration performance: Effect of compression pressure and storage conditions on surface liquid absorption and swelling kinetics.

The disintegration process of pharmaceutical tablets is a crucial step in the oral delivery of a drug. Tablet disintegration does not only refer to the break up of the interparticle bonds, but also relates to the liquid absorption and swelling behaviour of the tablet. This study demonstrates the use of the sessile drop method coupled with image processing and models to analyse the surface liquid absorption and swelling kinetics of four filler combinations (microcrystalline cellulose (MCC)/mannitol, MCC/lactose, MCC/dibasic calcium phosphate anhydrous (DCPA) and DCPA/lactose) with croscarmellose sodium as a disintegrant. Changes in the disintegration performance of these formulations were analysed by quantifying the effect of compression pressure and storage condition on characteristic liquid absorption and swelling parameters. The results indicate that the disintegration performance of the MCC/mannitol and MCC/lactose formulations are driven by the liquid absorption behaviour. For the MCC/DCPA formulation, both liquid absorption and swelling characteristics affect the disintegration time, whereas DCPA/lactose tablets is primarily controlled by swelling characteristics of the various excipients. The approach discussed in this study enables a rapid (<1 min) assessment of characteristic properties that are related to tablet disintegration to inform the design of the formulation, process settings and storage conditions.

Exploring the performance-controlling tablet disintegration mechanisms for direct compression formulations.

The design and manufacture of tablets is a challenging process due to the complex interrelationships between raw material properties, the manufacturing settings and the tablet properties. An important factor in formulation and process design is the fact that raw material and tablet properties drive the disintegration and dissolution performance of the final drug product. This study aimed to identify the mechanisms which control tablet disintegration for 16 different immediate-release placebo formulations based on raw material and tablet properties. Each formulation consisted of two fillers (47% each), one disintegrant and a lubricant. Tablets were manufactured by direct compression using four different combinations of the fillers microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), mannitol, lactose and dibasic calcium phosphate anhydrous (DCPA). The disintegration mechanism was primarily driven by the filler combination, where MCC/lactose tablets were identified as wettability controlled, MCC/mannitol tablets as dissolution controlled and DCPA-based tablets (MCC/DCPA and lactose/DCPA) as swelling controlled. A change of 2% in porosity for the wettability controlled tablets (MCC/lactose) caused a significant acceleration of the disintegration process (77% reduction of disintegration time), whereas for swelling controlled tablets (MCC/DCPA) the same porosity change did not considerably impact the disintegration process (3% change in disintegration time). By classifying these formulations, critical formulation and manufacturing properties can be identified to allow tablet performance to be optimised.

A Fast and Non-destructive Terahertz Dissolution Assay for Immediate Release Tablets.

There is a clear need for a robust process analytical technology tool that can be used for on-line/in-line prediction of dissolution and disintegration characteristics of pharmaceutical tablets during manufacture. Tablet porosity is a reliable and fundamental critical quality attribute which controls key mass transport mechanisms that govern disintegration and dissolution behavior. A measurement protocol was developed to measure the total porosity of a large number of tablets in transmission without the need for any sample preparation. By using this fast and non-destructive terahertz spectroscopy method it is possible to predict the disintegration and dissolution of drug from a tablet in less than a second per sample without the need of a chemometric model. The validity of the terahertz porosity method was established across a range of immediate release (IR) formulations of ibuprofen and indomethacin tablets of varying geometries as well as with and without debossing. Excellent correlation was observed between the measured terahertz porosity, dissolution characteristics (time to release 50% drug content) and disintegration time for all samples. These promising results and considering the robustness of the terahertz method pave the way for a fully automated at-line/on-line porosity sensor for real time release testing of IR tablets dissolution.