Application Studies / Tablet Hardness with Ball Probe

Tablet Hardness with Ball Probe

Industry:

Pharmaceutical

Attributes measured:

hardness

firmness

brittleness

cracking force

distance to first crack

initial gradient

Background

Most pharmaceutical companies use conventional tablet hardness instruments to measure the compaction of different tablet formulations. These instruments typically compress a tablet until it fractures to disintegration and capture the maximum hardness. Compressive hardness can also be highly variable, making it difficult to statistically differentiate between similar products with known formulation or process differences. The TA.XTPlus Texture Analyzer quantifies the complete deformation of tablet hardness tests, including a profile of the tablet’s first failure and the distance at which that failure occurs. This information is different than the ultimate compressive hardness and allows the TA.XTPlus Texture Analyzer to quantify physical properties which are not quantifiable with alternative instruments. The tests described in this study were conducted on tablets which were supplied by two major pharmaceutical companies. For one firm the tablets were identical formulations with compaction levels of 17 KN, 20 KN and 23 KN. The other firm’s tablets were also identical and formed under two different lower KN compaction loads. With both companies the traditional instruments could not differentiate between the tablets