I-Corps: Accelerated, materials sparing powder compaction characterization for improved pharmaceutical tablet formulation design

University Of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis MN

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a powder compaction model that describes mathematically the complex densification process that occurs during compression. Currently, in pharmaceutical tablet formulation development, traditional strategies can be slow and expensive, and product quality is not always guaranteed upon scale-up. The proposed technology is designed to address these problems by providing a powder compressibility model and method for characterizing powder mechanical properties. This may be used to extract more information, lower characterization time from hours to minutes, reduce equipment costs, and reduce the amount of powder required for characterization by an order of magnitude. This information may inform key decision makers responsible for derisking the process and ensuring commercial product success. In addition, this technology may be applied to other industries that use powder compaction including metal part and cosmetic manufacturing, detergent tablet production, and construction in soil sciences and geotechnical engineering. This I-Corps project is based on the development of an additive powder compressibility model that unifies several existing materials science models to characterize powder compressibility. The proposed model has been evaluated using materials with highly diverse mechanical properties. The comprehensive characterization deconvolutes the complex powder compaction process using in-die measurements, resulting in a fast, accurate, and materials-sparing characterization of important material properties that may inform formulation decisions. Deconvolution of these mechanical properties, such as plasticity and elasticity, allows for a more intrinsic understanding of the material and strengthens the understanding of the relationship between structure and property, which is essential for designing quality into a product. The proposed powder compression characterization method and analysis may be used to capture more accurate and detailed information using only tens of milligrams of material and seconds to collect. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.