Characterization of Pharmaceutical Tablets Using UV Hyperspectral Imaging as a Rapid In-Line Analysis Tool

Abstract

A laboratory prototype for hyperspectral imaging in ultra-violet (UV) region from 225 to 400 nm was developed and used to rapidly characterize active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) in tablets. The APIs are ibuprofen (IBU), acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and paracetamol (PAR). Two sample sets were used for a comparison purpose. Sample set one comprises tablets of 100% API and sample set two consists of commercially available painkiller tablets. Reference measurements were performed on the pure APIs in liquid solutions (transmission) and in solid phase (reflection) using a commercial UV spectrometer. The spectroscopic part of the prototype is based on a pushbroom imager that contains a spectrograph and charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. The tablets were scanned on a conveyor belt that is positioned inside a tunnel made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) in order to increase the homogeneity of illumination at the sample position. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to differentiate the hyperspectral data of the drug samples. The first two PCs are sufficient to completely separate all samples. The rugged design of the prototype opens new possibilities for further development of this technique towards real large-scale application.

UV Hyperspectral Imaging as Process Analytical Tool for the Characterization of Oxide Layers and Copper States on Direct Bonded Copper

“…The hyperspectral imaging setup was optimized compared to our previous work [11]. The pushbroom imager is a BlueEye Tec (inno-spec GmbH, Nürnberg, Germany), consisting of a spectrograph (RS 50-1938, inno-spec GmbH, Nürnberg, Germany), with a slit width of 80 µm, connected to a back-illuminated CMOS camera with total size 2048 × 2048 pixel (spatial × spectral) and pixel size of 6.5 µm × 6.5 µm.…”

“…The principal and workflow of the data acquisition remained [11]. The UV hyperspectral imaging data were acquired by the FluxRecorder version 4.2.1.17 (inno-spec GmbH, Nürnberg, Germany).…”

“…Hyperspectral imaging is a technique that integrates a conventional spectroscopic system with imaging in order to acquire spectral and spatial information from the area of interest [6][7][8][9]. Therefore, hyperspectral imaging enables quantitative analysis with improved levels of accuracy [4,10,11]. It is considered as a rapid, non-destructive and robust method.…”

“…In contrast, traditional methods, such as Auger electron and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which are used to analyze copper samples, are time consuming, expensive and require sample preparation and destruction [17,18]. The industry demands a high lateral resolution, which cannot be fulfilled by single-point UV-Vis spectroscopy [11,19]. Several detection methods have been developed to classify and identify the copper state and copper oxide layers.…”

“…In another recently published study, Al Ktash et al have developed this technology in the direction of real applications. The authors were able to precisely classify between different active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and painkiller tablets by using an UV hyperspectral imaging prototype [11].…”