United Pharmatek provides a wide range of lab equipment for every quality control process in pharmaceutical testing that meet USP Standards. The testing specifications established for tablets include physical, chemical and biological tests. Physical testing specifications can comprise of size, shape, color, friability, breaking force or hardness, and disintegration.
Our Tablet Hardness Testers are used in the pharmaceutical industry to test the breaking point or "Tablet Break Force" (the force required to cause them to fail) and structural integrity of a tablet.
Our Dissolution testers are capable of performing standalone testing. The DT series can be equipped with 6 or 8 vessels. The 2 additional vessels can be used for blank, standard or media replacement. The unit consist of control system, electric system, water bath system, transmission system, lifting system, transducer unit, paddle unit and rotating basket unit, etc.
Our Disintegration Testers test whether tablets or capsules disintegrate within a defined period of time when placed in a liquid medium. All of our lab instruments are designed and manufactured in accordance with USP Disintegration Specifications <701> and as optional <2040>. Our UDT Disintegration Tester comes with 1 to 3 individually controlled test stations, with their own keypad for easy setting of the required run time, independent of each other.
Our Friability testers measure the potential percent of weight loss of compressed tablets by replicating the rigorous environmental conditions that tablets are subjected to during the manufacturing, packaging, and distribution processes.
USP Tablet Breaking Force <1217> is commonly referred to as hardness testing. This test uses two plates to exert pressure on the edges of the tablet with force pressing toward the center of the tablet. The movement of the plates and the rate at which the compression force is applied must be consistent. This test works to measure the breaking – not the crushing – of the tablet. Consistency and repeating the test under the same conditions for each tablet in the same production run is very important.
USP <711> Dissolution Testing measures a chemical marker release of the dissolving tablet or capsule at given time intervals. This testing can be used for immediate-release, extended-release or delayed-release of enteric-coated and non-coated tablets or capsules. Specific monographs give the exact method for the testing but, in general, Dissolution Testing is performed using a 37-degrees-Celsius simulated stomach or gastric solution. Depending on the required chemical marker release time, one or more of the solution samples will be taken for testing.
USP Disintegration <701> can be used to measure the time it takes for tablets or capsules to dissolve. There should be specifications if tablets or capsules are uncoated, coated, delay-release, rapid-release, hard gel, soft gels or other forms.
The disintegration testing uses a cylinder with six tubes immersed in a liquid solution at 35 to 39 degrees Celsius. This cylinder is suspended from an arm that raises and lowers it into liquid at a constant frequency rate. This test simulates digestion in the stomach or small intestine, and measures the time it takes for the tablet or capsule to dissolve.
Tablet friability testing <1216>, listed in the USP, measures the way tablets hold up under tumbling conditions. The stress of tumbling and resistance of chipping and abrasion is measured by the weight loss of the tablets, after testing. A weight loss of 1 percent or less is usually acceptable.
