Malvern enters optical technology agreement

Published: 2-Mar-2002


Malvern Instruments (UK) has entered into licence and long-term research agreements with The Texas A&M University System, of the US, for the development and commercialisation of Frequency Domain Photon Migration (FDPM) technology for particle assessment and characterisation.

FDPM is an optical technology adapted from fluorescence spectroscopy for application to dense, opaque and multiply scattering systems for particle characterisation. Detecting changes in 'photon density wave' or intensity modulated light as it propagates through dense particulate suspensions or powder beds, FDPM measures two independent parameters – a scattering coefficient and an absorption coefficient. The scattering coefficient can be used to calculate particle size while the absorption coefficient can be used to assess the amount of a specific absorbing species in a particulate system.

The technology was developed originally at Purdue University, Indiana, by Dr Eva Sevick-Muraca in work supported over the past decade by the National Science Foundation, DuPont, Dow, Eli Lilly and a consortium of more than 40 chemical and pharmaceutical companies. It has the potential for implementation in a process-ready format, but is currently at an early stage. Further research will focus initially on its adaptation to meet pharmaceutical industry requirements, especially in the critical area of blend uniformity, where there is currently a lack of simple, effective measurement approaches.

Malvern Instruments expects to have systems available for evaluation during 2002, with production units coming on stream the following year, subject to successful evaluation. 'FDPM has exciting long-term prospects for process applications,' said Duncan Roberts, business development director, Malvern Instruments. 'The research agreement we have made will support the process of commercialisation as we move the technology through all the complex stages that are necessary for the production of a robust, reliable process system for the pharmaceutical and other industries.'

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