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Colorimetry as Quality Control Tool for Individual Inkjet-Printed Pediatric Formulations

  • Research Article
  • Theme: Pediatric Drug Development and Dosage Form Design
  • Published:
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Abstract

Printing technologies were recently introduced to the pharmaceutical field for manufacturing of drug delivery systems. Printing allows on demand manufacturing of flexible pharmaceutical doses in a personalized manner, which is critical for a successful and safe treatment of patient populations with specific needs, such as children and the elderly, and patients facing multimorbidity. Printing of pharmaceuticals as technique generates new demands on the quality control procedures. For example, rapid quality control is needed as the printing can be done on demand and at the point of care. This study evaluated the potential use of a handheld colorimetry device for quality control of printed doses of vitamin Bs on edible rice and sugar substrates. The structural features of the substrates with and without ink were also compared. A multicomponent ink formulation with vitamin B1, B2, B3, and B6 was developed. Doses (4 cm2) were prepared by applying 1–10 layers of yellow ink onto the white substrates using thermal inkjet technology. The colorimetric method was seen to be viable in detecting doses up to the 5th and 6th printed layers until color saturation of the yellow color parameter (b*) was observed on the substrates. Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry was used as a reference method for the colorimetry measurements plotted against the number of printed layers. It was concluded that colorimetry could be used as a quality control tool for detection of different doses. However, optimization of the color addition needs to be done to avoid color saturation within the planned dose interval.

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Acknowledgements

The funding from Tor, Joe och Pentti Borg Fond is greatly acknowledged. Emrah Yildir is thanked for showing the Lorentzen & Wettre micrometer device used for substrate thickness measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pharmaceutical Sciences Laboratory, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Åbo Akademi University, Artillerigatan 6A, FI-20520, Åbo, Finland

    Henrika Wickström, Johan O. Nyman, Mathias Indola, Maren Preis & Niklas Sandler

  2. Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland

    Heidi Sundelin & Leif Kronberg

  3. Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Jukka Rantanen

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  1. Henrika Wickström
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Correspondence to Henrika Wickström.

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Guest Editors: Maren Preis and Jörg Breitkreutz

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Wickström, H., Nyman, J.O., Indola, M. et al. Colorimetry as Quality Control Tool for Individual Inkjet-Printed Pediatric Formulations. AAPS PharmSciTech 18, 293–302 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1208/s12249-016-0620-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1208/s12249-016-0620-1

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