A tablet is a pharmaceutical oral dosage form or solid unit dosage form. Tablets may be defined as the solid unit dosage form of medication with suitable excipients. It comprises a mixture of active substances and excipients, usually in powder form, that are pressed or compacted into a solid dose. The main advantages of tablets are that they ensure a consistent dose of medicine that is easy to consume.
Spray drying is a method of forming a dry powder from a liquid or slurry by rapidly drying with a hot gas. This is the preferred method of drying of many thermally-sensitive materials such as foods and pharmaceuticals, or materials which may require extremely consistent, fine particle size. Air is the heated drying medium; however, if the liquid is a flammable solvent such as ethanol or the product is oxygen-sensitive then nitrogen is used.
Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it is performed: cold forging, warm forging, or hot forging. For the latter two, the metal is heated, usually in a forge. Forged parts can range in weight from less than a kilogram to hundreds of metric tons. Forging has been done by smiths for millennia; the traditional products were kitchenware, hardware, hand tools, edged weapons, cymbals, and jewellery.
Powder metallurgy (PM) is a term covering a wide range of ways in which materials or components are made from metal powders. PM processes can reduce or eliminate the need for subtractive processes in manufacturing, lowering material losses and reducing the cost of the final product.
A die is a specialized machine tool used in manufacturing industries to cut and/or form material to a desired shape or profile. Stamping dies are used with a press, as opposed to drawing dies and casting dies which are not. Like molds, dies are generally customized to the item they are used to create.
Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile by pushing material through a die of the desired cross-section. Its two main advantages over other manufacturing processes are its ability to create very complex cross-sections; and to work materials that are brittle, because the material encounters only compressive and shear stresses. It also creates excellent surface finish and gives considerable freedom of form in the design process.
Excipient is a substance formulated alongside the active ingredient of a medication. Excipients serve various purposes, including long-term stabilization, bulking up solid formulations containing potent active ingredients in small amounts, or enhancing the therapeutic properties of the active ingredient in the final dosage form. They can facilitate drug absorption, reduce viscosity, or enhance solubility. Excipients can also aid in the manufacturing process by improving the handling of active substances, facilitating powder flowability, or preventing denaturation and aggregation during the expected shelf life. The selection of excipients depends on factors such as the route of administration, dosage form, and active ingredient.
Compression molding is a method of molding in which the molding material, generally preheated, is first placed in an open, heated mold cavity. The mold is closed with a top force or plug member, pressure is applied to force the material into contact with all mold areas, while heat and pressure are maintained until the molding material has cured; this process is known as compression molding method and in case of rubber it is also known as 'Vulcanisation'. The process employs thermosetting resins in a partially cured stage, either in the form of granules, putty-like masses, or preforms.
Blow-Fill-Seal, also spelled as Blow/Fill/Seal, in this article abbreviated as BFS, is an automated manufacturing process by which plastic containers, such as bottles or ampoules are, in a continuous operation, blow-formed, filled, and sealed. It takes place in a sterile, enclosed area inside a machine, without human intervention, and thus can be used to aseptically manufacture sterile pharmaceutical or non-pharmaceutical liquid/semiliquid unit-dosage forms. BFS is an advanced aseptic processing technology that is typically used for filling and packaging of certain sterile liquid formulations like liquid ophthalmics, inhalational anesthetics, or lavaging agents, but can also be used for injectables, parenteral medicines, and several other liquid or semiliquid medications, with fill volumes ranging from 0.1...1000 cm³. Compared against traditional glass ampoules, BFS ampoules are inexpensive, lightweight, and shatterproof.
In the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, encapsulation refers to a range of dosage forms—techniques used to enclose medicines—in a relatively stable shell known as a capsule, allowing them to, for example, be taken orally or be used as suppositories. The two main types of capsules are:
A blister pack is any of several types of pre-formed plastic packaging used for small consumer goods, foods, and for pharmaceuticals.
Pharmaceutical formulation, in pharmaceutics, is the process in which different chemical substances, including the active drug, are combined to produce a final medicinal product. The word formulation is often used in a way that includes dosage form.
A punch is a tool used to indent or create a hole through a hard surface. They usually consist of a hard metal rod with a narrow tip at one end and a broad flat "butt" at the other. When used, the narrower end is pointed against a target surface and the broad end is struck with a hammer or mallet, causing the blunt force of the blow to be transmitted through the rod body and focused more sharply onto a small area. Typically, woodworkers use a ball-peen hammer to strike a punch.
Micromeritics is the science and technology of small particles pioneered by Joseph M. DallaValle. It is thus the study of the fundamental and derived properties of individual as well as a collection of particles. The knowledge and control of the size of particles has importance in pharmacy and materials science. The size, and hence the surface area of a particle, can be related to the physical, chemical and pharmacological properties of drugs. Clinically, the particle size of a drug can affect its release from dosage forms that are administered orally, parenterally, rectally and topically. The successful formulation of suspensions, emulsions and tablets; both physical stability and pharmacological response also depends on the particle size achieved in the product.
A conical mill is a machine used to reduce the size of material in a uniform manner. It is an alternative to the hammermill or other forms of grinding mills. As the name implies, the conical mill varies in diameter from where the feed enters to where the product exits.
Pharmaceutical manufacturing is the process of industrial-scale synthesis of pharmaceutical drugs as part of the pharmaceutical industry. The process of drug manufacturing can be broken down into a series of unit operations, such as milling, granulation, coating, tablet pressing, and others.
Granulation is the process of forming grains or granules from a powdery or solid substance, producing a granular material. It is applied in several technological processes in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Typically, granulation involves agglomeration of fine particles into larger granules, typically of size range between 0.2 and 4.0 mm depending on their subsequent use. Less commonly, it involves shredding or grinding solid material into finer granules or pellets.
Drug packaging is process of packing pharmaceutical preparations for distribution, and the physical packaging in which they are stored. It involves all of the operations from production through drug distribution channels to the end consumer.
Tableting is a method of pressing medicine or candy into tablets. Confectionery manufacture shares many similarities with pharmaceutical production.
Effervescent or carbon tablets are tablets which are designed to dissolve in water and release carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is generated by a reaction of a compound containing bicarbonate, such as sodium bicarbonate or magnesium bicarbonate, with an acid such as citric acid or tartaric acid. Both compounds are present in the tablet in powder form and start reacting as soon as they dissolve in water.
