(320b) Determination of the API Distribution in Tablets as a Result of Processing Parameters Using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy has the capability to map tablet composition in 3-D without the need to prepare the tablet into successive slices. A set of 9 blends with different shear and strain histories were made using a combination of a V-blender and a high speed shear rheometer. The blends were then tabletted using a Presstor press simulator and imaged using computed X-ray tomography and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy(LIBS). The tablets were also measured using standard techniques to determine the height, thickness, weight, and solvent penetration response. Tablets which were not destroyed in the imaging and measurement process were then dissolved in a USP II paddle and tank apparatus, and detailed dissolution curves produced. The overall effects of processing parameters were determined from the collected measurements and compared to the data produced by LIBS analysis of the tablets. The LIBS technique was able to provide useful 3-D representations of the tablets which captured features similar to the X-ray tomography. Blends which received greater amounts of shear and strain had more finely distributed API, as exhibited in LIBS measurements which showed less variance between shot sites.