A newly published article demonstrates the effectiveness of combining laser diffraction and automated particle imaging (including Raman spectroscopy) in the characterization of nasal spray products. Co-authored by materials characterization specialists from Malvern Instruments together with Julie Suman, President of Nextbreath LLC, ‘Characterizing a nasal spray formulation from droplet to API particle size' can be downloaded from the Malvern website at http://www.malvern.com/article-nasalspray  

The authors used both the Spraytec laser diffraction droplet size analyzer and the Morphologi G3-ID automated particle imaging system with Raman spectroscopy to characterize a nasal spray product. First they describe the analysis of spray formation dynamics, droplet size, and effective dosage at different spray velocities and the results achieved using the Spraytec. They then distinguish between active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and insoluble excipients in a suspension, as well as  API particle size distribution before and after dispersion, using the Morphologi G3-ID. 

Specifically designed to address the unique requirements of aerosol and spray droplet characterization, Spraytec provides in-situ, real-time droplet size measurements. The Morphologi G3-ID integrates automated image analysis with Raman chemical identification to detect subtle changes in particle composition and structure. Together they enable rapid formulation optimization for oral and inhaled nasal drug products. 

Read the article at http://www.malvern.com/article-nasalspray or visit www.malvern.com for more detailed information about the systems.