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Rheology methods for the formulation development of tablets

At Caleva we are known for our expertise in helping our customers in the pharmaceutical industry with extrusion, spheronization, and making pellets.

But we can also help with tabletting projects !

The Caleva Mixer Torque Rheometer (MTR) is widely used to measure the characteristics of a wet granulation to establish the correct endpoint and mix time for any given formulation.

The experiments and methods used by the MTR can also be applied to formulation development of tablets.

The process still involves the mixing of a wet granulation but with less liquid binder than the extrusion and spheronization process requires.

We all know R&D takes time and precious materials, but ask yourself how much of these expensive resources you could save by doing simple and fast experiments to establish your optimum binder addition and mix time, in small batches of 5 g to 50 g.

colorcon-tablets-coated-with-Caleva-Mini-Coater-Drier

Changeover between experiments can be achieved very quickly. Some of our customers have characterised up to 15 different formulations in a single day using the Mixer Torque Rheometer.

The ability to physically measure these characteristics gives you real data to work with, with an outcome of consistent, repeatable, and recorded data to fast track your tablet formulation development.

For more information view the Mixer Torque Rheometer product page or request a free online demo.

By Dawn Philips
5 Nov 2020 in Rheology and Tabletting

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Did you know that the Mixer Torque Rheometer (MTR) is designed to carry out 3 separate experiments essential to your formulation development and production? Read More

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The MTR can process from 10g to 25 g of your material, depending on the formulation, meaning barely any material is wasted in experiments. The machine will very quickly tell you the ideal amount of liquid to add. The user may have a start point in mind but this may result in a formulation that is to... Read More

Wet granulations are a useful precursor to many solid dosage formulations and as such are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. Because of the diverse nature of pharmaceutical materials, granulation is often employed as an intermediate process to enhance flow and compaction properties and impr... Read More

How much product do you use? The answer is that this is always product specific. This is demonstrated in this article. In these experiments the MTR is used in the multiple addition mode whereby increasing binder content is automatically added to different masses of product. The Caleva Mixer Torque R... Read More

The temperature of the mix during granulation processes is generally considered to be of minor significance in both formulation development and in large batch granulation despite the fact that in some locations ambient temperature can change significantly during the course of a working day. The MTR ... Read More

Excipients from different batches or vendors may vary in quality and it is often necessary to perform pre-formulation assessment for each new batch of excipient received. Read More

Variable Mix Time Test It is well-known that a minimum amount of mixing is required to ensure consistent and repeatable product characteristics. What is often less considered is the possibility of over-mixing the product so that the characteristics of the resulting formulation undergo a change. Read More

The Mixer Torque Rheometer's Consistency Test To ensure consistency is maintained during scale up and production, the Mixer Torque Rheometer can be used to perform a quick and simple test which monitors the consistency of the wet granulation during the mixing phase. This test can be used whether you... Read More

Multiple Addition Test Binder liquid is added to a dry powder mix and the consistency is measured as the mixing and addition of binder progresses. The consistency of the mix is measured at regular periods so that the relationship between the amount of liquid binder added to the mix and the consisten... Read More

Extrusion and spheronization is not always completely straightforward. A formulation required for spheronization needs to go through the following processes and achieve the following properties. Read More

Customer Quote: Mr. K.S (Aurobindo) "It is exciting to see the correlation between the two graphs and granulation end point". With a major pharmaceutical manufacturer, together we characterised all their various mixers to produce a consistent formulation. To identify three important characteristics ... Read More

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The following case study demonstrates how the Caleva Mixer Torque Rheometer. The MTR-3 was an invaluable aid in a specific case. A manufacturer of generic Venlafaxine pellets was experiencing inconsistent results from their manufacturing line. The resultant product was variable in both usable yield ... Read More

Research Article University of Padova where their Caleva Rheometer was used Abstract Vegetable soups are complex mixtures containing vegetables in different percentages, thickeners, salt, fat, and emulsifying/wetting agents. When prepared as dehydrated powders in convenience foods, they need to be r... Read More

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Drug-loaded mesoporous silica/calcium phosphate composites for bone regeneration Adrian Szewczyk at Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Gdańsk has kindly allowed us to introduce this paper that introduces a study of Drug-loaded mesoporous silica/calcium phosp... Read More

The different states of agglomeration were identified by the evolution of rheological properties under water addition and shearing conditions using a Caleva® mixer torque rheometer. Read More

The MTR-3 uniquely offers a means of characterising the rheological properties of a wet granulation by providing a quantitative value of the consistency of the material tested. The more traditional hand squeeze test, previously widely used, to measure or compare granulations, is falling into disrepu... Read More

One of the strengths of the Caleva Mixer Torque Rheometer (MTR-3) is that it can be used to verify the properties of wet powder mass samples taken during production in large scale mixer/granulator systems. Read More

Caleva worked closely with a well known producer of food supplements made from natural materials, plant extracts and other natural food sources. Their tablet formulations work well and this nutraceutical company has a good reputation for their products. Generally they do not encounter problems with ... Read More

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It is well established and understood that one of the most important factors in the development of a formulation for both tableting and making pellets by extrusion and spheronization is the amount of liquid binder added to the formulation. What is less widely acknowledged is the importance of mixing... Read More

Rheology methods for the formulation development of tablets

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