Freeze drying under the microscope

Microscope acts as a micro freeze-dryer, with advanced control system to allow multi-recipe choice and cycle optimisation

Do you want to quickly identify the key parameters of a freeze-drying formulation or continue to waste time, money and product with traditional trial and error techniques? Did you know that just a 1C increase in drying temperature can result in as much as a 13% decrease in primary drying time? It is obvious that knowing the critical parameters of a formulation such as eutectic and collapse temperature are vital if you want to quickly develop efficient and effective freeze-drying cycles.

Often a single cycle is used for a variety of products, but modern control systems allow multi-recipe choice and cycle optimisation.

The Lyostat2 freeze drying microscope, supplied by Biopharma Technology, is designed to quickly and accurately identify these parameters in typically less than one hour and is extremely simple to use.

The process begins with a few microlitres of product being loaded into a stage chamber under the microscope, which acts as a micro freeze-dryer.

The sample is then frozen to a pre-selected temperature at a continuously programmable cooling rate and a vacuum is applied to the chamber to begin the drying process.

The temperature of the stage can then be manipulated up or down in order to identify the temperature at which the product will collapse, melt, or exhibit other processing defects.

This product drying front can be viewed through the microscope or via the PC using the video camera and image-capture program supplied with the system.

All software is now supplied as standard with Lyostat2, allowing the user to control the freeze-drying process remotely via a computer.

This includes displaying and recording temperature and vacuum readings, providing a live image of the sample to be viewed on the screen, as well as recording a gallery of images taken at selectable time intervals.

Lyostat2 has been designed to be compatible with most popular makes of microscope, such as Olympus, Nikon, Leica, and Zeiss, making it a more cost- effective and flexible option.

It has a compact and stylish design and will fit neatly onto a bench top.

Each Lyostat2 is supplied fully validated against published eutectic or collapse temperatures for a range of standard solutions.

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