Abstract

Product and process understanding in thepharmaceutical industry have increased in recent yearswith the advent of new technologies that gave access tonew information. Near infrared chemical imaging is anadvanced form of NI R spectroscopy, where a collection oftens of thousands of spectra are acquired at once using aNI R array detector to give insight into the chemicalcomposition of powders and tablets. More importantly, thistechnology reveals the physical structure of the product orintermediate and this information is proving to be of greatvalue in formulation development, trouble-shooting andcounterfeit sourcing, to give only a few examples. In thisarticle, we discuss these popular applications with anemphasis on the novel information accessed with thistechnology.