Material Science for Medicine Processing

Course content

We, at RCPE (Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering) and TU Graz (Graz University of Technology), are excited to share our latest expertise and knowledge in pharmaceutical production with you.

Pharmaceutical production processes and process development are grounded in the scientific field of pharmaceutical engineering, which is a multidisciplinary area of study.

To effectively tackle pharmaceutical development and production processes, it's essential to have a multidisciplinary team collaborating. At RCPE, our scientific team scientists, pharmacists, physicists, chemical engineers, mathematicians, process control engineers, and quality experts, among others. Together, we've worked to create a comprehensive learning experience for you. While many of our colleagues are engaged in research projects supporting international pharmaceutical companies, we, as your teaching team, have taken on the responsibility of imparting this knowledge to you.

This course is tailored for individuals in the pharmaceutical industry or other professionals seeking to deepen their understanding of powder handling and characterization techniques. Specifically focused on solid dosage forms and powders, the course delves into key aspects relevant to their production and processing. Please note that other dosage forms, such as liquids for parental or oral delivery, topical creams, or aerosols, are not covered in this course. Solid dosage forms are emphasized due to their widespread use and inherent complexities. By the course's conclusion, participants will gain proficiency in handling powders and solid dosage forms, as well as strategies to navigate common challenges encountered during manufacturing and processing.

Throughout this course, you will gain practical knowledge and insights that can be directly applied to pharmaceutical manufacturing processes, enabling you to enhance product quality, efficiency, and regulatory compliance in your professional endeavors.

Learning goals

• You will gain proficiency in handling powders and solid dosage forms, as well as strategies to navigate common challenges encountered during manufacturing and processing.
• You will learn about various techniques used to analyze particle characteristics, and how these characteristics impact the behavior of pharmaceutical powders.
• We will discuss the principles of direct compression, including powder blend characterization, formulation considerations, and process optimization strategies for achieving robust tablet formulations.
• You will learn the causes and mechanisms of segregation, as well as strategies to mitigate its effects during manufacturing processes.
• We will discuss the principles of powder sampling, including sampling techniques, sample preparation, and statistical considerations for sampling in pharmaceutical manufacturing.
• We will examine the key properties of tablets, and their significance in pharmaceutical formulation and development.

Prerequisites

For actively participating in the course you will receive an automatic certificate which includes your name, the course name as well as the completed lessons. We want to point out that this certificate merely confirms that you answered at least 75% of the self-assessment questions correctly.

This work is licensed under Creative Commons - 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Additional content

Discussion

If you have any question or want to discuss any topic related to the course feel free to ask your peers in the forum anytime, we will also check the forum frequently and help you out! 

Discussion guidelines

You can use the forum when you have questions, want to share your thoughts and ideas and have discussions with classmates and instructors. To prevent duplication, please go through previous discussion posts before posting your own. You can add a post as a Question or Discussion. Give a meaningful title to your post. Do not post answers to assignments or quizzes anywhere! We encourage everyone to participate and get to know each other.