Differentiating generic versus branded pharmaceutical tablets using ultra-high-resolution optical coherence tomography

Abstract

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has recently been demonstrated as a powerful tool to image through pharmaceutical film coatings. Majority of the existing systems can, however, resolve film coatings for thickness greater than 10 μm. Here we report on an ultra-high-resolution (UHR) OCT system, with 1 μm axial and 1.6 μm lateral resolutions, which can resolve thin coatings at approximately 4 μm. We further demonstrate a novel application of the system for differentiating generic and branded suppliers of paracetamol tablets.