Qualitative and Semi-Quantitative Analysis of Health-Care Pharmaceutical Products Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectros
Qualitative and Semi-Quantitative Analysis of Health-Care Pharmaceutical Products Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectros
Qualitative and Semi-Quantitative Analysis of Health-Care Pharmaceutical Products Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectros
Original Article
art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t
Article history: Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a sensitive optical technique that is capable of rapid
Received 25 June 2018 multi-elemental analysis. The development of this technique for elemental analysis of pharmaceutical
Received in revised form products may eventually revolutionize the field of human health. Under normal circumstances, the
11 October 2018
elemental analysis of pharmaceutical products based on chemical methods is time-consuming and
Accepted 12 October 2018
Available online 15 October 2018
complicated. In this investigation, the principal aim is to develop an LIBS-based methodology for ele-
mental analysis of pharmaceutical products. This LIBS technique was utilized for qualitative as well as
Keywords: quantitative analysis of the elements present in Ca-based tablets. All the elements present in the tablets
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy were detected and their percentage compositions were verified in a single shot, using the proposed
Elements identification
instrument. These elements (e.g., Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, and others) were identified by the wavelengths of their
Health-care pharmaceutics
spectral lines, which were verified using the NIST database. The approximate amount of each element
Qualitative analysis
Quantitative analysis was determined based on their observed peaks and the result was in exact agreement with the content
specification. The determination of the composition of prescription drug for patients is highly important
in numerous circumstances. For example, the exploitation of LIBS may facilitate elemental decomposition
of medicines to determine the accuracy of the stated composition information. Moreover, the approach
can provide element-specific, meaningful, and accurate information related to pharmaceutical products.
& 2018 Xi'an Jiaotong University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article
under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
1. Introduction the elements [4,5]. LIBS is widely applied in numerous areas in-
cluding process monitoring due to its rapidity, ability to perform
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a rapidly noncontact optical measurement, minimal sample preparation
evolving analytical technique based on optical emission spectro- requirement, and potential to perform real-time in-situ measure-
scopy of laser-produced plasma. In LIBS, a high-energy laser out- ments for laboratory or industrial use. The application of LIBS for
put is focused on a small volume of sample (10 8 to 10 5 cm3) of quantitative elemental analysis has been demonstrated in me-
solid, liquid, or gas, which results in the generation of plasma due tallurgy, mining, environmental analysis and several other fields
to stimulation of the sample [1–3]. The process results in the [1,6,7].
emission of an optical signal that is detected and analyzed using a In the pharmaceutical sector, there has been recent interest in
spectrometer. The resulting spectral lines are recorded by this LIBS. To date, the application of this technique in the pharma-
instrument, which is typically connected to a PC. When a typical ceutical field has been exclusively in the analysis of solid dosage
measurement is performed, the observed spectral lines are com- forms, such as quantitating active pharmaceutical ingredient (API).
pared with those in the database of the National Institute of The analysis is then based on an element specific to the API (e.g.,
Standards and Technology (NIST) to facilitate the identification of chlorine, sulfur, fluorine, or bromine) [1,7,8]. The same analytical
scheme is applied in principle to liquid formulations. However, the
analysis of pharmaceutical products in solution by LIBS has not
Peer review under responsibility of Xi'an Jiaotong University.
n been reported. Compared to available techniques for the analysis
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (G. Dastgeer). of pharmaceutical liquids (colorimetric or potentiometric titration,
1
These authors contribute equally. chromatography, and spectrometric methods), LIBS is a direct and
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpha.2018.10.003
2095-1779/& 2018 Xi'an Jiaotong University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
S. Nisar et al. / Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis 9 (2019) 20–24 21
Fig. 2. The LIBS data obtained for OMC-D tablet is plotted in the range of 300–700 nm wavelength. (A) The elements observed in the range of 300–700 nm wavelength.
(B) The elements observed in the range of 385–425 nm wavelength. (C) The elements observed in the range of 580–600 nm wavelength. (D) The elements observed in the
range of 600–630 nm wavelength. (E) The elements observed in the range of 635–675 nm wavelength.
plasma radiation can be created by dual-pulse operations the surface of the sample, regardless of the direction of the laser
where the interval between the first and second pulse, and the beam. The spectrum was recorded using a continuous beam of the
laser beam geometry play a key role in optimizing the produced Nd:YAG laser with a first harmonic of 1064 nm. The spectrum data
signal [24]. for each sample was recorded two to three times to minimize the
The first investigated sample was OMC-D which contained Ca uncertainty or the errors. The emission spectrum consists of singly
as an active agent and additional elements as passive agents. The
or doubly ionized spectral lines of Ca, Fe, Mg and other elements
spectra obtained by LIBS was used to identify the elements present
such as Ni, Zn, P and Cu as shown in Fig. 2. The specified results of
in these pharmaceuticals tablets. A laser operating at 1064 nm
OMC-D tablet described in Table 1 accurately match the NIST
with 61 mJ per pulse was focused on the Crafilm tablet. The
Q-switched Nd:YAG (Quantel Brilliant) laser beam with an FL-Q- database results. The transition from the upper level to the lower
switch delay of 280 μs in a spectral range of 300–700 nm was used level was expressed in each table for each sample individually.
to ablate the sample. The emission spectrum was recorded using The intensity (I) of the spectral lines was calculated by using
an Avantas Spectrometer placed at an angle of 90° with respect to the following equation [24].
S. Nisar et al. / Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis 9 (2019) 20–24 23
Table 1 Table 3
The elements traced by their spectral lines present in each sample of OMC-D tablets The elements traced by their spectral lines present in each sample of Hectoral ta-
using 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser. blets using 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser.
Sr. No Wavelength (nm) Traced Transitions Sr. No Wavelength (nm) Traced Transitions
elements elements
Lower energy Upper energy Lower energy Upper energy
6 2 1 6 2 3 6 2
1 393.33 Ca II 3p 4s S /2 3p 4p P° /2 1 305.56 Fe I 3d 4s 3d6(3G)4s4p(3P°)
2 396.80 Ca II 3p64s 2S 1/2 3p64p 2P° 1/2 2 319.63 Zn II – –
3 422.88 Fe II 3d6(3P1)4p 3d6(3G)4d 3 334.89 Ni II 5p5 (2P°) 6s 5p64p 2P° 3/2
4 585.69 Cu I 3d9(2D)4s4p(3P°) 3d94s(3D)5s 4 370.39 Mg III 2s22p5(2P°3/2)4p 2s22p5(2P°3/2)5s
6 588.97 Fe I 3p64s4f 3d7(4F)4d 6 393.33 Ca II 3p64s2S1/2 3p64p 2P° 3/2
7 589.18 Fe I 3d72f4s 3d6(3D)4s4p(3P°) 7 396.80 Ca II 3p64s 2S 1/2 3p64p 2P° 1/2
8 610.27 Ca I 3p64s4p 3p64s5s 8 430.77 Ca I 3p64s4p 3p64p2
9 612.73 Mg III 2s22p5(2P°3/2)4s 2s22p5(2P°3/2)4p 9 453.07 Cu I 2s22p5(2P°1/2)3d 2s22p5(2P°1/2)4f
10 616.21 Ca I 3p64s4p 3P° 3p64s5s3S 10 498.16 Fe I 3d7(4F)4p 3d7(4F)4d
11 617.68 Ni I 3d8(3F)4s4p(3P°) 3d9(2D5/2)4d 11 500.73 Mg III 2s22p5(2P°1/2)4p 2s22p5(2P°1/2)4d
8 643.63 PI – – 8 502.14 Ca II 3p65p 3p66d
9 644.76 Cu II 3d8(1G)4s4p(3P°) 3d9(2D5/2)8d 9 518.88 Ca I 3p64s4p 3p64s5d
10 646.25 Ca I 3p63d4s 3p63d4p 10 551.72 PI 3d6(5D)4s 3d5(6S)4s4p(1P°)
14 647.91 Zn I – – 14 558.92 Ca I 3p64s2S1/2 3p63d4p3D°
15 649.44 Ca I 3p63d4s 3p64s4f 15 588.97 Fe I 3p64s4f 3d7(4F)4d
16 649.96 Fe I 3d7(4F)4p 3d6(5D)4s (6D)4d 16 625.72 Ca I 2s24p2P° 2s25d
17 671.83 Ni I 3s23p2(3P)4p 3s23p2(3P)5d 17 671.83 Ni I 3s23p2(3P)4p 3s23p2(3P)5d
8πhc Nkgi
I=α
λ 3 Nigk
∫ ( 1−e−k( v)l)dv
Here α is a constant, λ is known as a transition wavelength, h is
Plank's constant, Nk and Ni are number densities and gk and gi are
statistical weights. Finally, k is the absorption coefficient at frequency.
The width of the spectral line is estimated by the equation [24] given
below:
⎛ Ne ⎞
Δλ1/2 = 2ω ⎜ 16 ⎟
⎝ 10 ⎠
Table 2
The elements traced by their spectral lines present in each sample of Osnate-d Fig. 3, and verified by comparison with the NIST database results
tablets using 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser.
[24,25]. The elements traced in the Hectoral tablets are expressed
Sr. No Wavelength (nm) Traced Transitions in Fig. 4 using LIBS. Further, a quantitative-based analysis of each
elements tablet was performed and the results were compared with the
Lower energy Upper energy prescription provided by each medical company. The estimated
amount for Ca, Fe, Mg, and other elements are 29%, 20%, 10%, and
1 317.22 Zn II – –
2 319.63 Zn II 41%, respectively, which is precisely comparable to the prescrip-
3 393.33 Ca II 6 2 1
3p 4s S /2 3p64p 2P° 3/2 tions provided by medical companies. It is observed from Figs. 2–4
4 396.80 Ca II 3p64s 2S 1/2 3p64p 2P° 1/2 that Ca is relatively abundant in all samples as compared to other
6 422.88 Fe II 3d6(3P1)4p 3d6(3G)4d
elements. The approximate quantity of Ca, Fe, and Mg with some
7 430.77 Ca I 3p64s4p 3p64p2
8 440.62 Ca III 3s23p5(2P°1/2)4d 3s23p5(2P°1/2)4f other constituents is determined by their observed peaks [26],
9 442.31 Mg III 2s22p5(2P°3/2)4p 2s22p5(2P°1/2)4d which are in accordance with the indicated prescription of the
10 453.07 Cu I 2s22p5(2P°1/2)3d 2s22p5(2P°1/2)4f tablets.
11 487.80 Ca I 3p63d4s 3p64s4f
8 516.71 Mg I 3s3p 3s4s
9 519.13 P II 3s23p4s 3s23p4p
10 527.09 Ca I 3p63d4s 3p64s4f 4. Conclusion
14 551.72 PI 3d6(5D)4s 3d5(6S)4s4p(1P°)
15 588.97 Fe I 3p64s4f 3d7(4F)4d We concluded that LIBS is an important technique that can be
16 625.72 Ca I 2s24p2P° 2s25d
17 671.83 Ni I 3s23p2(3P)4p 3s23p2(3P)5d
used to characterize samples in liquid, solid, and gaseous forms. A
portable version of an LIBS device has been designed and used in
24 S. Nisar et al. / Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis 9 (2019) 20–24