Acoustic technology 'tops sonication' for tablet QC

The Adaptive Focused Acoustics (AFA) technology is patented by Massachusetts-based company Covaris Process, and distributed in Europe by UK-based KBioscience.

The technology works by applying sound waves to a sample which creates a bubble as the energy transfers through the material. As the bubbles form and collapse (a process known as cavitation), a jet of solute (generally water) is created and allows analysis of the sample.

KBioscience MD Phil Robinson explained to In-PharmaTechnologist.com that Covaris' patented technology has significant advantages over other forms of sonication technology, which are generally restricted to using sound waves of around 10cm. This is impractical in pharmaceutical settings as most samples and vessels are much smaller than this.

The AFA technology works well because it acts at a much higher frequency (500-1000kHz) with a much smaller wavelength (around 1mm), which means the energy can be much more focused and direct more power into a solution.

A further disadvantage of other forms of acoustic energy use in biological preparation applications is the requirement for direct sample contact - a potential biohazard. The non-contact technology provided by Covaris avoids this danger.

The product has been commercially available for around three years, and been successfully applied to pharmaceutical applications, mainly in the North American and European markets with hundreds of units currently in use. The technology has been applied to studies of drug metabolism, extraction of compounds for biological samples, compound dissolution and resolution as well as tablet disruption for quality control monitoring of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

The company says that, in much the same way as it is has been applied to these areas in the pharmaceutical industry, it can also be applied to the cosmetics industry, where the use of increasingly complex ingredients is more and more common.