Design and evaluation of IR sensors for pharmaceutical testing

The history and use of mid-infrared fiber optics accessories as analytical tools is presented. The sensitivity and high throughput of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometers, combined with high optical efficiency mid-IR fiber optic materials and sensors have provided an optimized tool for remote sampling. Remote sampling is valuable when analyzing hazardous chemicals, samples too large to fit into a standard instrument compartment, or irregularly shaped objects, such as is the case with human studies. Attenuated total reflectance (ATR), specular reflectance and diffuse reflectance spectra from a variety of pharmaceutical samples are presented. A method for in-situ monitoring of percutaneous absorption is described.