Hard Capsule Filling

K Ito, S-I Kaga, Y Takeya. Studies on hard gelatin capsules II. The capsule filling of powders and effects of glidant by ring filling machine-method. Chem Pharm Bull 17 1138-1145, 1969. 

AM Mehta, LL Augsburger. A preliminary study of the effect of slug hardness on drug dissolution from hard gelatin capsules filled on an automatic capsule filling machine. Int J Pharm 7 327-334, 1981. 

P Yeski, M Marvola. Design and use of equipment for simulation of plug formation in hard gelatin capsule filling machines. Acta Pharm Fennica 100 19-25, 1991. 

Small LE, Augsburger LL. Aspects of the lubrication requirements for an automatic capsule-filling machine. Drug Devel Ind Pharm 1978 4 345. Tattawasart A, Armstrong NA. The formation of lactose plugs for hard shell capsules. Pharm Devel Tech 1993 2 335-343. 

Podczeck F. Powder, granule and pellet properties for filling of two-piece hard capsules, Chapter 5 in Pharmaceutical Capsules, 2nd ed. In Podczeck F, Jones BE, eds. London Pharmaceutical Press, 2004, 108. 

Soft gelatin capsules are hermetically sealed one-piece capsules containing a liquid or a semisolid fill. Like liquid-filled hard capsules, although the drug is presented in a liquid formulation, it is enclosed within a solid, thus combining the attributes... 

Hard capsules are made in two sections, cap and body, which are then filled. Soft-gelatin capsules have their shell formed and filled in succession... 

Table 1 Formulation types for filling into hard capsules...

Pharmacopeias require that hard capsules be tested in the same apparatus as tablets even though they have very different physical properties. Filled capsules contain entrapped air, and most formulations will float on water. Devices are required to ensure that they sink, and these can influence the results obtained. Gelatin and hypromellose are adhesive materials and tend to block wire meshes that form part of the standard equipment. The way in which capsules disintegrate and dissolve is dependent upon several factors such... 

Jones, B.E. The filling of powers into two-piece hard capsules. Int. J. Pharm. 2002, 227, 5-26. 

Hard Gelatin Capsules Filled with Waxes... 

A similar device (Rotahaler , GlaxoSmithKline) has also been available for many years, delivering salbutamol and beclomethasone dipropionate powders. Here, the drag mixture is again filled in a hard capsule, and... 

Capsules typically vary in volume from 0.5-1.5 mL, but the ideal volume filled into a capsule is approximately 0.7 mL to allow for an easily swallowed capsule. Thus ideally the entire dose of active ingredient should be solubilized in a total volume of less than or equal to 0.7 mL to allow for a dose regimen of 1 capsule per dose (Liu, 2000), otherwise a larger capsule is required, or a dose regimen of multiple capsules per dose must be considered. The dose range of active ingredients in capsule formulations is from 0.25 pg to 500 mg, and the upper mass of an entire liquid-filled capsule is about 1650 mg. Both soft and hard gelatin capsules are used for solubilized oral formulations. Liquid formulations can be filled into either soft or hard capsules, whereas semisolids or solid formulations are filled into hard capsules. 

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