PhD Scientific Days 2021

PH_I_P: Pharmaceutical Sciences I. Posters

The Significance of Image Analysis in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Text of the abstract

Introduction: Visual inspection is one of the oldest methods in the pharmacopoeias for the description and characterization of active ingredients and excipients, along with the complex dosage forms. Owing to the technological developments, today several imaging methods are available that not only ease this procedure and enable its automation, but also make it possible to take images of various pharmaceutical dosage forms in a size range that is hardly visible or completely invisible to the human eye. The analysis of these images can contribute to a better understanding of physicochemical processes, and the results can not only be used for composition optimization of the dosage form, but also in the development and in-process control of its production.
Aims: The aim of this study is to show some of the numerous ways image analysis can be used in the pharmaceutical field, from the manufacturing to the quality assessment of different dosage forms, regardless of the state of matter (liquid, semi-solid, solid). It also broadens the basic pharmacopoeial toolkit for characterization and evaluation.
Methods: Dosage forms were investigated for various purposes. In-process control examinations, like following the coating progress of pellets, stability testing of tablets, and also characterization of the final product, like the spreading tendency of medicated foams, were carried out. For image acquisition digital cameras and optical microscopes were used, while for the image analysis Image Pro Plus and ImageJ software were applied.
Results: The results support the applicability of image analysis in the various areas of the pharmaceutical manufacturing – from the identification of the starting materials all the way to the characterization of the final product.
Conclusion: All in all, image analysis enables the study of pharmaceutical dosage forms from another point of view, even in cases when they are not yet highly regulated by the pharmacopoeias, like in case of foams. Its application remarkably broadens the yet limited toolkit for characterization and evaluation.
Funding: This work was supported by the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund of Hungary in the frame of the EFOP-3.6.3-VEKOP-16-2017-00009 project.

University and Doctoral School

Semmelweis University, Doctoral School of Pharmaceutical Sciences