Method and system for determining the quality of pharmaceutical products

Abstract

Thermographic imaging is used to monitor quality parameters of pharmaceutical products in a manufacturing process.

1 - 51 . (canceled) 
     
     
         52 . A method for determining quality of material obtained in a manufacturing process comprising:
 (a) generating an infrared (IR) thermographic image of said material by an IR detector operable to sense, in its field of view, radiation of said material in a mid to very long IR wavelength;   (b) processing the IR thermographic image to generate an output indicative of the quality of said material, said output comprises a material parameter which is indicative of the moisture content and/or the moisture dispersion of said material; and   (c) displaying said output or utilizing said output to alter the manufacturing process or a combination of same,   
       wherein said manufacturing process provides a product selected from a therapeutic product, a cosmetic product, a food product or a food supplemental. 
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 52 , wherein said IR thermographic image is generated by active thermography and said active thermography comprises applying onto said material a single thermal pulse or a sequence of two or more thermal pulses. 
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 53 , wherein said thermal pulse is selected from heating said material, cooling said material, cooling followed by heating of said material and heating followed by cooling said material. 
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 52 , wherein said mid to very long IR wavelength comprises any wavelength in the range selected from the group consisting of from 3 μm to 20 μm, from 8 μm to 12 μm, from 7 μm to 14 μm, from 5 μm to 8 μm, and from 3 μm to about 5 μm. 
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 52 , wherein said IR thermographic image is generated by said IR detector in combination with an optical arrangement for focusing said radiation of said material on the IR detector. 
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 52 , where said IR thermographic image is combined with one or more images of said material obtained in the NIR, VIS, UV. 
     
     
         58 . The method of  claim 52 , further comprising correlating said material parameter with a predetermined threshold parameter for said manufacturing process, the threshold parameter comprises an essentially distinct value or a range of values representing a desired quality of the material prepared in said manufacturing process, and generating from said correlation the said output,
 when said material parameter is different from said threshold parameter, said output indicates a defect in said material; and   when said material parameter is within said threshold parameter, said output indicates that the material has a desired quality.   
     
     
         59 . The method of  claim 52 , wherein said manufacturing process provides a powdered product. 
     
     
         60 . A system for determining quality of material obtained in a manufacturing process comprising:
 (a) an IR image generating device comprising an IR detector operable to sense, in its field of view, radiation of said material in a mid to very long IR wavelength and to generate therefrom a respective IR thermographic image of said material;   (b) a processing utility for processing said IR thermographic image to generate an output indicative of the quality of said material, said output comprises a material parameter which is indicative of the moisture content and/or the moisture dispersion of said material;   (c) a control unit configured to display said output or to utilize said output to alter the manufacturing process or a combination thereof,   
       wherein said manufacturing process provides a product selected from a therapeutic product, a cosmetic product, a food product or a food supplemental. 
     
     
         61 . The system of  claim 60 , wherein said IR thermographic image is generated by an active thermography and said system comprises a thermal pulse generator operable to apply at least one thermal pulse onto said material, the thermal pulse generator is configured to apply onto said material a single thermal pulse or a sequence of two or more thermal pulses. 
     
     
         62 . The system of  claim 60 , wherein said mid to very long IR wavelength comprise any wavelength in the range selected from the group consisting of from 3 μm to 20 μm, from 8 μm to 12 μm, from 7 μm to 14 μm, from 5 μm to 8 μm, and from 3 μm to about 5 μm. 
     
     
         63 . The system of  claim 60 , wherein said processing utility is operable to correlate said material parameter with a predetermined threshold parameter for said manufacturing process and to generate therefrom said output. 
     
     
         64 . The system of  claim 60 , further comprising a memory comprising a database of predetermined threshold parameters of manufacturing processes, each threshold parameter is an essentially distinct value or a range of values representing a desired quality of a material to be obtained in a manufacturing process associated with said predetermined threshold, and said material parameter is correlatable with a threshold parameter from said database. 
     
     
         65 . The system of  claim 64 , wherein said database of predetermined threshold parameters comprises for each threshold parameter an essentially distinct value or a range of values representing a desired quality of a material to be obtained in a manufacturing process associated with said predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         66 . The system of  claim 60 , wherein said control unit is configured to receive said output and display said output, alter said manufacturing process or a combination of same. 
     
     
         67 . The system of  claim 66 , wherein when said output is indicative of a defect in said material, said control unit is operable to alter said manufacturing process by one or more of ceasing the process, repeating the process, directing the material to a different manufacturing process, altering process conditions. 
     
     
         68 . The system of  claim 60 , wherein said manufacturing process provides powdered product.