Physical Properties Tests For The Pharmaceutical Engineer

By Bob McGregor

Products packaged for consumer use by the pharma industry go through a battery of tests related to how the user applies the product. Creams and ointments, for example, are filled into tubes and jars; the effort needed to extract them from their container and spread on skin is the appropriate test. Medicines injected into the body via syringe have variable consistency depending on nature of the formulation; measuring the force needed to expel the fluid from the cartridge is the test that makes sense. Inhalers are designed for various ages of potential users – youth, adults, seniors; the actuation force to trigger flow must not exceed the average customer’s strength, therefore test the plunger.