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Sultan T, Hasan Rozin E, Paul S, Tseng YC, Cetinkaya C. Machine learning framework for extracting micro-viscoelastic and micro-structural properties of compressed oral solid dosage forms. Int J Pharm 2023; 646:123477. [PMID: 37797783 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2023.123477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2023] [Revised: 09/21/2023] [Accepted: 10/01/2023] [Indexed: 10/07/2023]
Abstract
A compressed pharmaceutical oral solid dosage (OSD) form is a strongly micro-viscoelastic material composite arranged as a network of agglomerated particles due to its constituent powders and their bonding and fractural mechanical properties. An OSD product's Critical Quality Attributes, such as disintegration, drug release (dissolution) profile, and structural strength ("hardness"), are influenced by its micro-scale properties. Ultrasonic evaluation is direct, non-destructive, rapid, and cost-effective. However, for practical process control applications, the simultaneous extraction of the micro-viscoelastic and scattering properties from a tablet's ultrasonic response requires a unique solution to a challenging inverse mathematical wave propagation problem. While the spatial progression of a pulse traveling in a composite medium with known micro-scale properties is a straightforward computational task when its dispersion relation is known, extracting such properties from the experimentally acquired waveforms is often non-trivial. In this work, a novel Machine Learning (ML)-based micro-property extraction technique directly from waveforms, based on Multi-Output Regression models and Neural Networks, is introduced and demonstrated. Synthetic waveforms with a given set of micro-properties of virtual tablets are computationally generated to train, validate, and test the developed ML models for their effectiveness in the inverse problem of recovering specified micro-scale properties. The effectiveness of these ML models is then tested and demonstrated for a set of physical OSD tablets. The micro-viscoelastic and micro-structural properties of physical tablets with known properties have been extracted through experimentally acquired waveforms to exhibit their consistency with the generated ML-based attenuation results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tipu Sultan
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Photo-Acoustics Research Laboratory, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY 13699-5725, USA.
| | - Enamul Hasan Rozin
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Photo-Acoustics Research Laboratory, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY 13699-5725, USA.
| | - Shubhajit Paul
- Material and Analytical Sciences, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Ridgefield, CT 06877, USA.
| | - Yin-Chao Tseng
- Material and Analytical Sciences, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Ridgefield, CT 06877, USA.
| | - Cetin Cetinkaya
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Photo-Acoustics Research Laboratory, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY 13699-5725, USA.
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Sultan T, Dave VS, Cetinkaya C. Early detection and assessment of invisible cracks in compressed oral solid dosage forms. Int J Pharm 2023; 635:122786. [PMID: 36854370 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2023.122786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2022] [Revised: 02/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/01/2023]
Abstract
In the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, real-time in situ quality monitoring for detecting defects at an early stage is a desirable ability, especially in high-rate production, to minimize downstream quality-related issues, financial losses, and timeline risks. In this study, we focus on the early detection of crack formation in compressed oral solid dosage (OSD) forms at its onset before complete delamination and/or capping in downstream processing. The detection of internal tablet cracks related to local micro-stress/strain states, internal granularity (texture), and micro-structure failures is rather unlikely by traditional testing methods, such as the USP reference standards for friability, fracturing, or hardness testing. In addition, these tests do not permit the objective and quantitative evaluation of the influence of formulation and process parameters, which are critical for the development of high-quality drug products manufactured at high rates on a large scale. Internal cracks (potentially resulting in 'capping' and/or 'lamination') under high-strain compaction of highly visco-elastic powder materials are a common failure mode. In the current study, two approaches are introduced and utilized for non-destructively detecting and evaluating hidden cracks in pharmaceutical compacts based on (i) varying axial load-displacement measurements and (ii) ultrasonic reflection ray tracing. The reflection ray tracing technique is a non-destructive, inexpensive, rapid, and material-sparing approach, which makes it advantageous for real-time quality monitoring and defect characterization applications. The varying axial load-displacement technique is more suitable for analytical studies, especially in the design and development phases of compressed OSD products. In this study, as a model application, utilizing these two approaches, it is demonstrated how internal and external cracks can be detected, localized, characterized, and analyzed as a function of disintegrant ratio and main compression force. Various uses of these two techniques in practice, such as in Continuous Manufacturing (CM) and Real-Time Release Testing (RTRT), are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tipu Sultan
- Photo-Acoustics Research Laboratory Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Clarkson University Potsdam, NY 13699-5725, USA
| | - Vivek S Dave
- St. John Fisher University, Wegmans School of Pharmacy, Rochester, NY 14618, USA
| | - Cetin Cetinkaya
- Photo-Acoustics Research Laboratory Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Clarkson University Potsdam, NY 13699-5725, USA.
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Sultan T, Paul S, Rozin EH, Tseng YC, Bazzocchi MCF, Cetinkaya C. Micro-viscoelastic Characterization of Compressed Oral Solid Dosage Forms with Ultrasonic Wave Dispersion Analysis. AAPS PharmSciTech 2022; 24:22. [DOI: 10.1208/s12249-022-02483-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2022] [Accepted: 12/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
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Thio DR, Heng PWS, Chan LW. MUPS Tableting-Comparison between Crospovidone and Microcrystalline Cellulose Core Pellets. Pharmaceutics 2022; 14:pharmaceutics14122812. [PMID: 36559308 PMCID: PMC9785026 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14122812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2022] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Multi-unit pellet system (MUPS) tablets were fabricated by compacting drug-loaded pellets of either crospovidone or microcrystalline cellulose core. These pellets were produced by extrusion-spheronization and coated with ethylcellulose (EC) for a sustained drug release function. Coat damage due to the MUPS tableting process could undermine the sustained release function of the EC-coated pellets. Deformability of the pellet core is a factor that can impact the extent of pellet coat damage. Thus, this study was designed to evaluate the relative performance of drug-loaded pellets prepared with either microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) or crospovidone (XPVP) as a spheronization aid and were comparatively evaluated for their ability to withstand EC pellet coat damage when compacted. These pellets were tableted at various compaction pressures and pellet volume fractions. The extent of pellet coat damage was assessed by the change in drug release after compaction. The findings from this study demonstrated that pellets spheronized with XPVP had slightly less favorable physical properties and experienced comparatively more pellet coat damage than the pellets with MCC. However, MUPS tablets of reasonable quality could successfully be produced from pellets with XPVP, albeit their performance did not match that of vastly mechanically stronger pellets with MCC at higher compaction pressure.
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Jin C, Zhao L, Feng Y, Hong Y, Shen L, Lin X. Simultaneous modeling prediction of three key quality attributes of tablets by powder physical properties. Int J Pharm 2022; 628:122344. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2022.122344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2022] [Revised: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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Ultrasonic characterization of complete anisotropic elasticity coefficients of compressed oral solid dosage forms. Int J Pharm 2022; 623:121922. [PMID: 35724823 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2022.121922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2022] [Revised: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
In compacted materials, elastic anisotropy coupled with residual stresses could play a determining role in the manifestation of various types of defects such as capping and lamination, as it creates shear planes/bands and temporal relaxation. This internal micro-structure leads to time-delayed flaw initiation/formation, crack tip propagation under residual stresses, and ultimately product quality failures. Thus, their accurate characterization and variations are useful for understanding underlying failure mechanisms and to monitor variations in materials, processes and product quality during production prior to onset of failure. The extraction of tablet anisotropic elasticity properties is a challenging task, especially for commercial tablets with complex shapes, as shape often prevents the use of traditional destructive techniques (e.g., diametric compression testers) to produce accurate measurements. This study introduces and applies an ultrasonic approach to extracting the complete transverse isotropic elastic properties of compressed oral solid dosage forms to a commercial tablet product. A complete set of waveforms and the constitutive matrix for the compacted materials are reported. In addition, a perturbation analysis is carried out to analytically relate propagation speeds in various directions to the elastic coefficients. The proposed characterization approach is non-destructive, rapid, easy, and reliable in evaluating tablet anisotropy.
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Kern M, Riedel T, Breitkreutz J. Investigating key properties of model excipients and binary powder blends using ultrasonic in-die measurements on a compaction simulator. Int J Pharm 2021; 613:121381. [PMID: 34920000 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2021.121381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Revised: 12/06/2021] [Accepted: 12/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
In this work, the recently introduced Kilian Inline Measurement System (KIM) that enables ultrasonic measurements during powder compaction was studied using three pharmaceutical excipients with different properties and particle sizes, applying various amounts of lubricant and different compaction pressures. It was shown that the generated results were highly reproducible, not only in series but also on different days including dismantling and reassembling of the components. The relation between ultrasonic velocity and increasing compact density differed among the investigated materials and was independent of initial particle size and applied maximum pressure. Since the velocity through a porous solid is dependent on pore volume and shape, velocity profiles have the potential to track changes in the microstructures of the materials. Furthermore, ultrasonic velocities through binary mixtures (50:50 (w/w)) at a given solid fraction were between the values of the plain excipients, but more closely resembled one of their components. This may be indicative of the compaction behavior and performance of the blend. Overall, ultrasonic instrumentation seems to be a robust and promising tool for the characterization of powders and blends in compaction processes. However, its practical value must still be investigated further including multi-component blends, underlying densification mechanisms, and decompression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melinda Kern
- Department of Pharmaceutical Technologies, Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Straße 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany; Institute of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstraße 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
| | - Thomas Riedel
- Department of Pharmaceutical Technologies, Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Straße 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Jörg Breitkreutz
- Institute of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstraße 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
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Paul S, Tseng YC. An insight into inter-relationships among tensile strength, elastic modulus and plasticity on tabletability of single components and binary mixtures. J Pharm Sci 2021; 110:2570-2574. [PMID: 33744275 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2021.03.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Revised: 03/07/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The evolution of tablet strength is mainly influenced by deformability (bonding area) and strength of intermolecular interactions (bonding strength) from the intrinsic material properties and tableting process, respectively. Therefore, understanding of intrinsic material attributes is important for in-silico drug product designs. The present study shows that the separate effect of the above two factors can be better understood by systematic evaluation of pure APIs and their formulations. Using tensile strength, elastic modulus and yield stress as critical material attributes, a proof of concept shown in this work emphasizes that materials with greater deformability tend to possess greater tensile strength at comparable bonding strengths. In contrast, the influence of the deformability parameter is hidden when formulations are used, leading to a scenario where the effects of bonding area and bonding strength are more inseparable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shubhajit Paul
- Department of Material and Analytical Sciences, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., 900 Ridgebury Road, Ridgefield, CT 06877, USA.
| | - Yin-Chao Tseng
- Department of Material and Analytical Sciences, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., 900 Ridgebury Road, Ridgefield, CT 06877, USA
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Paul S, Baranwal Y, Tseng YC. An insight into predictive parameters of tablet capping by machine learning and multivariate tools. Int J Pharm 2021; 599:120439. [PMID: 33662471 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2021.120439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2020] [Revised: 01/20/2021] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Capping is the frequently observed mechanical defect in tablets arising from the sub-optimal selection of the formulation composition and their robustness of response toward process parameters. Hence, overcoming capping propensity based on the understanding of suitable process and material parameters is of utmost importance to expedite drug product development. In the present work, 26 diverse formulations were characterized at commercial tableting condition to identify key tablet properties influencing capping propensity, and a predictive model based on threshold properties was established using machine learning and multivariate tools. It was found that both the compaction parameters (i.e., compaction pressure, radial stress transmission characteristics, and Poisson's ratio), and the material properties, (i.e., brittleness, yield strength, particle bonding strength and elastic recovery) strongly dictate the capping propensity of a tablet. In addition, ratio of elastic modulus in the orthogonal direction in a tablet and its variation with porosity were notable quantitative metrics of capping occurrence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shubhajit Paul
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., Department of Material and Analytical Sciences, Ridgefield, CT 06877, USA.
| | - Yukteshwar Baranwal
- Department of Chemical & Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers University, 98 Brett Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Yin-Chao Tseng
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., Department of Material and Analytical Sciences, Ridgefield, CT 06877, USA
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