The sound of tablets during coating erosion, disintegration, deaggregation and dissolution

This research aims to address a gap in our understanding of the mechanisms by which pharmaceutical tablets achieve highly reproducible and predictable drug release. The present industrial and regulatory practice is centred around tablet dissolution, i.e. what follows disintegration, yet the vast majority of problems that are found in formulation dissolution testing can be traced back to the erratic disintegration behaviour of the medicinal product. It is only due to the distinct lack of quantitative measurement techniques for disintegration analysis that this situation arises. Current methods involve costly, and time-consuming test equipment, resulting in a need for more simple, green and efficient methods which have the potential to enable rapid development and to accelerate routine solid drug formulation dissolution and disintegration testing. In this study, we present a novel approach to track several sequential tablet dissolution processes, including coating erosion, disintegration, deaggregation and dissolution using Broadband Acoustic Resonance Dissolution Spectroscopy (BARDS). BARDS, in combination with minimal usage of UV spectroscopy, can effectively track these processes. The data also show that a solid oral dose formulation has an intrinsic acoustic signature which is specific to the method of manufacture and excipient composition

Separation and determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by solid phase microextraction/cyclodextrin modified capillary electrophoresis

NRC publication: Ye

\u27SWEATCH\u27: A Wearable Platform for Harvesting and Analysing Sweat Sodium Content

A platform for harvesting and analysing the sodium content of sweat in real time is presented. One is a ¿watch¿ format in which the sampling and fluidic system, electrodes, circuitry and battery are arranged vertically, while in the other ¿pod¿ format, the electronics and battery components, and the fluidics electrodes are arranged horizontally. The platforms are designed to be securely attached to the skin using a velcro strap. Sweat enters into the device through a sampling orifice and passes over solid-state sodium-selective and reference electrodes and into a storage area containing a high capacity adsorbent material. The liquid movement is entirely driven by capillary action, and the flow rate through the device can be mediated through variation of the width of a fluidic channel linking the electrodes to the sample storage area. Changing the width dimension through 750, 500 and 250 µm produces flow rates of 38.20, 21.48 and 6.61 µL/min, respectively. Variation of the sweat uptake rate and the storage volume capacity enables the duration of usage to be varied according to the needs of the user. The devices can be easily disassembled to replace the electrodes and the high capacity adsorbant material. The storage sweat is available for subsequent measurement of the total volume of sweat harvested and the average concentration of sodium over the period of use. Signals generated by the electrodes are passed to a custom designed electronics board with high input impedance to accurately capture the voltage. The real-time data is transmitted wirelessly using incorporated Bluetooth circuitry to a remote basestation (laptop, mobile phone, tablet) for data visualization and storage in standard formats. Results obtained during trials over a period of ca. 30 minutes controlled exercise are consistent with previously published data, showing a gradual relatively slow increase of the sodium concentration in the sweat during this period