Continuous Mixing Technology: Characterization of a Vertical Mixer Using Residence Time Distribution.

Continuous powder mixing technology (CMT) application during continuous direct compression has emerged as a leading technology used in the development and manufacture of solid oral dosage forms. The critical quality attributes of the final product are heavily dependent on the performance of the mixing step as the quality of mixing directly influences the drug product quality attributes. This study investigates the impact of blend material properties (bulk density, API particle size distribution) and process parameters (process throughput, hold up mass and impeller speed) on the mixing performance.

Spectroscopic imaging of biomaterials and biological systems with FTIR microscopy or with quantum cascade lasers.

Spectroscopic imaging of biomaterials and biological systems has received increased interest within the last decade because of its potential to aid in the detection of disease using biomaterials/biopsy samples and to probe the states of live cells in a label-free manner. The factors behind this increased attention include the availability of improved infrared microscopes and systems that do not require the use of a synchrotron as a light source, as well as the decreasing costs of these systems. This article highlights the current technical challenges and future directions of mid-infrared spectroscopic imaging within this field.

FTIR spectroscopic imaging and mapping with correcting lenses for studies of biological cells and tissues.

Histopathology of tissue samples is used to determine the progression of cancer usually by staining and visual analysis. It is recognised that disease progression from healthy tissue to cancerous is accompanied by spectral signature changes in the mid-infrared range. In this work, FTIR spectroscopic imaging in transmission mode using a focal plane array (96 × 96 pixels) has been applied to the characterisation of Barrett's oesophageal adenocarcinoma.

The biocompatibility of carbon hydroxyapatite/β-glucan composite for bone tissue engineering studied with Raman and FTIR spectroscopic imaging.

The spectroscopic approaches of FTIR imaging and Raman mapping were applied to the characterisation of a new carbon hydroxyapatite/β-glucan composite developed for bone tissue engineering. The composite is an artificial bone material with an apatite-forming ability for the bone repair process. Rabbit bone samples were tested with an implanted bioactive material for a period of several months.

Analyzing the impact of different excipients on drug release behavior in hot-melt extrusion formulations using FTIR spectroscopic imaging.

The drug release performance of hot-melt extrudate formulations is mainly affected by its composition and interactions between excipients, drug and the dissolution media. For targeted formulation development, it is crucial to understand the role of these interactions on the drug release performance of extrudate formulations. Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopic imaging was used with an in-situ flow-cell device to analyze the impact of different excipients on drug release from extrudates.

Fast drying and film formation of latex dispersions studied with FTIR spectroscopic imaging.

Drying of thin latex films (∼20 μm) at high drying speeds (of the order of seconds) has been studied by fast chemical imaging. ATR-FTIR spectroscopic imaging combined with a fast "kinetic" mode was used to acquire spectral images without coaddition, enabling the amount of water and homogeneity of the drying film to be studied over time. Drying profiles, constructed from analyzing the water content in each image, show two stages of drying, a fast and a slow region.