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The Emerging Field of Medicines Authentication by Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance Spectroscopy

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Abstract

We report the progress of a project at King’s College London funded by UK Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, to develop a prototype, portable medicines authentication device based on nuclear quadrupole resonance spectroscopy (NQR) and employing innovative parametric data processing, for the non-invasive, non-destructive and quantitative inspection of packaged medicines. The first-generation system will target nitrogen- and/or chlorine-containing medicines in blister packs and bottles without the need to remove these items from their packaging. Initial proof of principle will be based around a database consisting of the NQR “fingerprints” of a select list of essential medicines as defined by the World Health Organization that are commonly counterfeited in developing countries. This database will be expanded as the project progresses, and as the device is taken up for commercialization.

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Notes

  1. Available to download at: http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/essentialmedicines/en/index.html.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr David Stephenson of the University of the West Indies for providing us with double-resonance data. Funding for the project is provided by the Wellcome Trust (http://www.wellcome.org.uk) under their Technology Transfer Award scheme. We also thank AstraZeneca UK and Merck, Sharp & Dohme for funding early experiments at King’s College London in this area.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Engineering, King’s College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, UK

    J. Barras, K. Althoefer, M. D. Rowe, I. J. Poplett & J. A. S. Smith

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  1. J. Barras
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  2. K. Althoefer
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  3. M. D. Rowe
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  4. I. J. Poplett
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  5. J. A. S. Smith
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Correspondence to J. Barras.

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Barras, J., Althoefer, K., Rowe, M.D. et al. The Emerging Field of Medicines Authentication by Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance Spectroscopy. Appl Magn Reson 43, 511–529 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00723-012-0320-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00723-012-0320-2

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