High-throughput optimisations for 3D chemical imaging of pharmaceutical solid oral dosage forms

Area of Science:

• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Analytical Chemistry
• Microscopy

Background:

• Chemical imaging is crucial for pharmaceutical quality control and problem diagnosis.
• 3D chemical imaging offers enhanced insights but is limited by lengthy data acquisition times.
• Prior optimization efforts often degraded chemical image quality to reduce collection time.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the efficiency of 3D chemical image collection for pharmaceutical solid oral dosage forms.
• To achieve significant speed increases without compromising the signal-to-noise ratio of chemical images.
• To make 3D chemical imaging more practical for industrial workflows.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of automated microscope macros for continuous data collection.
• Utilization of a kinematic mounting system for rapid and precise sample handling.
• Integration of these methods to streamline the serial sectioning and image stacking process.

Main Results:

• Achieved a threefold increase in the speed of 3D chemical image data collection.
• Maintained the original signal-to-noise ratio, ensuring high-quality chemical images.
• Demonstrated the feasibility of rapid, statistically robust 3D chemical imaging.

Conclusions:

• Optimized strategies enable faster 3D chemical imaging of pharmaceuticals.
• The developed methods balance efficiency and data quality for industrial applications.
• This approach facilitates more comprehensive quality assurance and issue diagnosis in pharmaceutical manufacturing.