Lecture 8: Tablets 2 Flashcards
What are the important properties of a tablet to assess its performance?
- Tablet breaking/ crushing force
- Friability
- Disintegration
- Dissolution
What is tablet breaking/crushing force?
The force neceassry to cause a tablet to fracture when compressed between 2 rigid platens
What are factors that affect the tablet breaking force?
- Formulation components
- Process used to make the formulation
- Compression process used
- Geometry and thickness
etc
What is an acceptable tablet breaking force?
Should be high enough that it has a good appearance and can withstand further processing and handling
But not too high that it cant disintegrate or dissolve properly
What are the requirements for the platens when measuring tablet breaking force?
- Should be parallel to each other
- Polished and smooth surface
- Perpendicular to the direction of movement
What is the process by which the tablet breaking force is measured?
- Tablet is weighed
- The thickness is measured
- The tablet it put into the chamber which applies the force and measures the force need to crack it
What parameters of the equipment are kept constant during the measurement of tablet breaking force?
Rate of platen movement or the loading rate
Why is it importnat to maintain a constant loading rate during tablet breaking force testing?
- Keeping a steady speed when applying pressure helps to measure the strength of the tablet better
- Under different loading rates, materials can have different breaking mechanisms. When the material changes from ductile to brittle faliure, the breaking force required increases. So to keep this contsant, we dont change the loading rate
- A steady breaking force helps prevent unexpected kinds of breaking (like crushing or sliding apart), which minimises variability.
Whats a drawback of using a constant loading rate to measure tablet breaking force?
It might be slow, so it can be inefficient when you have to measure many samples during manufacturing.
Explain how tablet geometry can affect tablet breaking force.
- A thicker tablet requires greater breaking force (assuming same diameter)
- Scored tablets: the break easier when the score is perpendicular to the platens –> a more general breaking force is obtained when you put the score parallel to the platens
- Tablets with an elongated shape will have a different breaking force when you put it in different orientations
hence you must standardise the geometry and the orientation of all the tablets
What is the minimum sample size needed to test tablet breaking force?
6 tablets
How do you calculate the tensile strength of a cylindrical tablet after measuring its breaking force?
tensile strength =(2 x breaking force) / (pi x tablet diameter x tablet thickness)
What is the minimum acceptable tensile strength of a tablet?
2MPa
What is friability of a tablet?
The ability of the tablets to withstand stress against absrasion.
How do you test the friability of tablets?
- De dust tablets and measure their weight
- Put them in a rotating drum with a pre determined speed and number of revolutions (usually 100)
- Drum will rotate and toss the tablets around
- Remove loose dust and measure the weight of the tablets again
5.Calculate percentage weight lost
What is the minimum sample size needed to test tablet friability?
- If weight of one tablet <= 650 mg : take enough tablets such that the total mass is as close as possible to 6.5g
- If weight of one tablet > 650 mg : take 10 tablets (weight is atleast 6.5g)
What is a good tablet friability?
- The weight change of the tablets should be less than 1%
- The tablets should not be cracked, cleaved or broken after tumbling (otherwise failed)
When is a tablet considered to be completely disintegrated?
Complete disintegration is the state in which any residue of the unit, except fragments of insoluble coating or capsule shell, remaining on the screen of the test apparatus or adhering to the lower surface of the disk, if used, is a soft mass having no palpably firm core.
What are the apparaus and conditions used to measure tablet disintegration?
- Basket rack assembly –> basket moves up and down into the immersion fluid, 55m distance moved
- 1000mL in beaker
- Height 138-160 mm,
- Inside diameter 97-115mm
- Temp 35-39 deg C
- At the highest point of the upward stroke, the wire mesh remains at least 15 mm below the liquid surface
- For the downward stroke, the wire mesh is not less than 25 mm from the bottom of the vessel
- Time required for the upward stroke is equal to the time required for the downward stroke
- The change in stroke direction is a smooth transition (vs an abrupt reversal of motion)
- The basket-rack assembly moves vertically
What are the dimensions of the wire cloth in the basket rack of the disintegration test apparatus?
Plain square weave with 1.8 – 2.2 mm apertures
Wire diameter: 0.57 – 0.66 mm
What is the disk used for in the disintegration test apparatus?
- Ensure submersion of the dosage unit and the necessary surface wetting to facilitate disintegration
- Used for uncoated or plain coated tablets only
Explain the process of doing the disintegration test.
- Pour water/ other medium like simulated gastric fluid into the beaker (1000mL)
- Maintain temperature at 37 deg (+/- 2deg)
- Place 1 tablet in ech basket and add a disk
- Start vertical movement of the basket rack
- The apparatus will measure the time taken for the tablets to disintegrate (for the manual apparatus, you have to observe and time yourself).
What would you do if some tablets fail to disintegrate in the disintegration test?
- If more than 2–> test failed
- If 1-2 tablets failed, repeat the rest on 12 additional tablets
- Requirement is met if not fewer than 16 of the total 18 tablets are disintegrated
What is the ideal disintegration time for a tablet?
Ideally less than 10 mins
At most 15 mins
What are the 3 mechanisms by which a tablet disintegrates?
- Swelling
- Strain recovery
- Wicking
Explain how a tablet disintegrates by the swelling mechanism.
- Disintegrant gets hydrated and expands 3 dimensionally
- This causes the bonds holding the tablet together to break
- Fragments of the tabelt are detached form the polymer
Why are disintegrants often crosslinked polymers?
- Crosslinkingreduces the solubility of the polymer, which minimises gelling
- Gelling can increase the viscosity within the tablet, which slows down swelling and disintegration
- If the polymer is too viscous, it can form a plug that acts as a binder, which opposes the breaking of bonds inside the tablet for disintegration
Give some examples of disintegrants that are crosslinked polymers, and cause disintegration by the swelling mechanism.
- Sodium starch glycolate
- Croscarmellose sodium
Explain how a tablet disintegrates by the strain recovery mechanism.
- Disintegrant gets hydrated and expands 1 dimensionally
- This causes the bonds holding the tablet together to break
- Fragments of the tabelt are detached form the polymer
- These disintegrants have a spring like mechanism, where the energy stored during compaction is released after hydration.
Give some examples of disintegrants that cause disintegration by the strain recovery mechanism.
Crospovidone
For disintegration by the strain recovery mechanism, how can we make the disintegrants more effective?
- By applying a greater pressure during compaction
- Since those disinetgrants have a spring like mechanism, when more pressure is applied, more energy is stored in the disintegrants which is released during hydration.
Explain how a tablet disintegrates by the wicking mechanism.
- Liquid penetrates the pores of the tablet by capillary action
- This causes dissolution/shape recovery/ swelling, causing the tablet to disintegrate
Explain fast and slow wicking.
Fast wicking: water enters the tablet rapidly, and the tablet burts open and disintegrates at once
Slow wicking: Water enters the tablet slowing and it gradually disintegrates from the surface to the core
How does pH affect disintegration?
- It affects ionisation
- Ionised polymer swells more than an unionised one, because the charges in the ionised polymer repel each other, and interact better with water
- A non ionisable polymer is unaffected by water