Raman microscopic evaluation of technology dependent structural differences in tablets containing imipramine model drug

Raman imaging method was used to characterize the effect of different manufacturing technologies on properties of the produced tablets, such as compound distribution, polymorphism, strength, and estimated active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) content. The obtained chemical maps were evaluated based on their visual appearance and on the statistical properties of the component scores obtained by direct classical least squares (DCLS) modelling. It is demonstrated that changes in the distribution of the API and excipients can be detected with chemical imaging and these differences are in close relationship with the applied granulation method and with the mechanical properties of the analyzed tablet. It is also shown that the chemical images used for characterizing the component distribution can also be processed for obtaining a cautious estimation to the mass fractions of the components. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.