Tablet evaluation hardness testing

The conventional methods of hardness testing for tablets also involve a subjective operator error. The scale on the Erweka hardness tester is divided into segments of 0.25 kg units. Very often, the sample under evaluation may produce a reading that falls between two divisions, and it is up to the operator to decide on the result. 

Initial Situation An experimental granulation technique is to be evaluated a sample of tablets of the hrst trial run is sent to the analytical laboratory for the standard batch analysis prescribed for this kind of product, including content uniformity (homogeneity of the drug substance on a tablet-to-tablet basis, see USP Section (905)" ), tablet dissolution, friability (abrassion resistance), hardness, and weight. The last two tests require little time and were therefore done first. (Note Hardness data is either given in [kg-force] or [N], with 1 kg = 9.81 Newton). 

Tablet hardness is a property that, when measured, destroys the sample. The destructive nature of the test, coupled with the variability of the test itself does not contribute to an incentive to test a large number of samples. Morisseau and Rhodes99 correlated the diffuse reflectance NIR spectra of tablets pressed at different pressures and subsequently tested the tablet hardness with an Erweka Hardness Tester. The tablet hardness, as predicted by the NIR method, was at least as precise as the laboratory test method. Kirsch and Drennen100 evaluated NIR as a method to determine potency and tablet hardness of Cimetidine tablets over a range of 1-20% potency and 107-kPa compaction pressure. Hardness at different potency levels was used to build calibration models using PCA/ principal component regression and a new spectral best-fit algorithm. Both methods provided acceptable predictions of tablet hardness.

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