Chemical characterization of pharmaceutical samples by confocal raman microscopy and correlative techniques
The development and production of drug delivery systems requires efficient and reliable control mechanisms to ensure the quality of the final products. These products can vary widely in composition and application. Therefore analyzing methods that provide both comprehensive chemical characterization and the flexibility to adjust the method to the investigated specimen are preferred in pharmaceutical research. Based on various examples from pharmaceutics this article introduces confocal Raman microscopy as an analyzing method for the qualitative and quantitative investigation of a sample's chemical composition and the visualization of its distribution within the sample. Furthermore the analyzing capabilities of correlative microscopy techniques such as Raman-AFM and topographic confocal Raman imaging are presented. Thus complete tablets, emulsions, drug delivery coatings and ointments are comprehensively analyzed and the results are visualized in large-area, high-resolution images, depth profiles and 3D images. The reader will learn how confocal Raman imaging and its correlative measurement techniques contribute to a detailed chemical description of pharmaceutical drug systems and effectively support pharmaceutical development.