Raman Chemical Imaging – Drug Delivery Technology
Site-specific delivery and controlled release of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) have resulted in a high demand for modified-release products. Sustained-release beads can deliver stable levels of drugs, which result in less-frequent dosing. For consistent drug delivery, it is imperative for the bead coating to be uniformly applied. In this study, Raman Chemical Imaging (RCI) coupled with optical microscopy was applied to investigate API and polymer coating thicknesses in commercial sustained-release beads. This approach was compared to scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and dissolution data obtained for the same batch.