An in vitro experiment to simulate how easy tablets are to swallow

Area of Science:

• Pharmaceutics
• Biomechanics
• Human Physiology

Background:

• Patient compliance with solid oral dosage forms is significantly influenced by swallowing ease, particularly in pediatric and geriatric populations.
• Difficulty swallowing medication can lead to reduced adherence and therapeutic failure.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an in vitro model of the human oropharyngeal cavity for quantitatively studying the oral phase of swallowing single or multiple solid oral dosage forms.
• To investigate the influence of tablet size, shape, and tongue pressure on bolus dynamics during swallowing.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an in vitro model simulating the human oropharyngeal cavity.
• Employed high-speed camera recordings to quantitatively measure bolus velocity, oral transit time, and tablet position.
• Varied tablet geometry (size, shape) and simulated tongue pressure to assess their impact on swallowing dynamics.

Main Results:

• Tablet shape significantly affected swallowing velocity when the dosage form interacted with the oral cavity walls; elongated tablets moved faster than spherical ones.
• When tablet cross-section was less than 40% of the bolus, geometry had no significant impact on swallowing dynamics.
• The study provided a mechanistic interpretation of in vitro oral swallowing dynamics, evaluating theoretical predictions against experimental data.

Conclusions:

• The developed in vitro model provides a valuable tool for quantitatively assessing the oral phase of swallowing solid dosage forms.
• Findings suggest that medication design, particularly tablet shape and size, can be optimized to improve swallowing ease for specific patient populations.
• This research can inform the development of more effective sensory evaluations and clinical studies for solid oral medications.