Measuring particle adhesive ability

A centrifuge method first introduced in the late 1960s allows researchers to get a general idea of the adhesive and cohesive forces present in a representative sample of a drug/carrier mixture under fluidized conditions that more closely mimic aerosolization in an inhaler. Because this technique uses standard lab equipment and requires no special training or sample preparation, the centrifuge method can give fast and inexpensive data about the forces in a dry powder formulation and also provides an indirect method for determine how particle characteristics such as morphology and size affect the formulation performance. A recent study revisited this method to characterize deposition characteristics for drug-lactose mixes prepared with different polymorphs.