Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) recently attracted attention for the quality control of pharmaceutical film-coatings. Current research focuses on single-layered tablet coatings with layer thicknesses between 50 and 100 μm and production end-point detection using commercial systems available for such applications. Modern multi-particulate dosage forms, particularly interesting for pediatric and personalized medicine, show coating layer thicknesses of 20 μm and below, pushing the limits of commercial pharmaceutical industrial OCT systems, which are namely their spatial and temporal resolutions. We present a novel ultra-high-resolution (UHR-) OCT prototype investigating merits and constraints of the technology based on imaging and semi-automatic layer thickness segmentation and quantification of exemplary multi-particulate dosage forms with different layer structures and layer thicknesses in a range from seven to 50 μm. The UHR-OCT system allows, for the first time, imaging of morphological features and defects within thin pharmaceutical coatings, accurate film thickness measurements and the quantitative analyses of coating layer variability. Our investigation showcases that UHR-OCT can be the next logical and necessary step to advance quality control in pharmaceutical settings.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.