Experiment 1

Aim

To determine the particle size of an unknown dosage form.

Equipments

A sample of unknown dosage form’s particle size

Computer system

Procedure

1. An unknown dosage form formulation is put under a microscope and a camera is

attached to the eye piece of the microscope to connect it to a computer.
2. Then, the particle size displayed on the screen computer is measured using
software.
3. 100 particle sizes are chosen and the average of the size is calculated.
4. Using the average size, the dosage form of the formulation is identified.

Data

Below are the results of the 100 particle sizes obtained from the unknown sample. All
measurements are in 𝜇𝑚 (micrometer)

No. Size(𝝁𝒎) No. Size(𝝁𝒎) No. Size(𝝁𝒎) No. Size(𝝁𝒎) No. Size(𝝁𝒎)
1. 7.725 21. 3.692 41. 13.023 61. 3.688 81. 17.460
2. 11.607 22. 7.529 42. 33.805 62. 4.968 82. 6.277
3. 15.149 23. 7.335 43. 10.465 63. 6.000 83. 4.167
4. 4.472 24. 6.505 44. 22.808 64. 2.506 84. 2.720
5. 12.479 25. 9.916 45. 5.993 65. 7.034 85. 4.804
6. 11.879 26. 9.020 46. 13.720 66. 2.506 86. 11.321
7. 10.245 27. 8.656 47. 7.403 67. 2.341 87. 8.989
8. 8.490 28. 6.896 48. 8.786 68. 2.953 88. 3.053
9. 5.546 29. 15.704 49. 19.997 69. 4.118 89. 7.710
10. 16.704 30. 5.600 50. 4.534 70. 4.903 90. 12.806
11. 8.412 31. 8.544 51. 8.421 71. 6.325 91. 15.384
12. 10.018 32. 2.807 52. 2.059 72. 2.200 92. 15.881
13. 12.192 33. 6.174 53. 9.265 73. 4.243 93. 7.225
14. 7.071 34. 6.512 54. 6.381 74. 4.368 94. 3.736
15. 9.654 35. 16.834 55. 3.578 75. 9.483 95. 3.000
16. 9.220 36. 7.046 56. 2.561 76. 5.604 96. 4.308
17. 11.317 37. 13.928 57. 4.238 77. 4.238 97. 6.248
18. 8.551 38. 3.945 58. 8.809 78 7.684 98. 5.532
19. 6.093 39. 15.839 59. 8.884 79. 5.188 99. 11.022
20. 8.766 40. 4.720 60. 4.020 80. 5.803 100. 18.440
Total: Total: Total: Total: Total:
195.590 167.202 198.750 96.153 170.083

Overall total of particle sizes: 195.59 + 167.202 + 198.75 + 96.153 + 170.083 = 827.778 𝝁𝒎

Range (𝝁𝒎) Number of particle size

1.00 - 5.99 37
6.00 - 10.99 40
11.00 - 15.99 16
16.00 - 20.99 5
21.00 - 25.99 1
26.00 - 30.99 0
31.00 - 35.99 1

Calculation

𝑂𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑒 =
100

827.778
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑒 = = 𝟖. 𝟐𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟖 𝝁𝒎
100
Results

According to the chart above, for particle size 8.27778 𝜇𝑚, it is suitable to be used as nasal
spray through nasal administration where drug are insufflated into the nose. Advantage of
this nasal drug delivery is that it can be a form of either topical administration or systemic
administration, as the drugs thus locally delivered can go on to have either purely local or
systemic effects. Examples of nasal sprays that have local effect are decongestant drugs for
cold and allergy treatment. Whereas, nasal spray for systemic (avoid first pass metabolism)
include migraine drugs and nicotine replacement.

Conclusion

1. This sample with particle sizes 8.27778 𝜇𝑚 is known to be a nasal spray dosage
form and is administered through nasal.