Direct visualization of drug release in injectable implant by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS)

Abstract

Understanding the drug release mechanisms of long-acting injectable (LAI) formulations is of great interest to the pharmaceutical community, yet remains a complex analytical challenge. Herein, the drug release process of LAI implants were directly visualized for the first time using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) 2D imaging. To directly visualize the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) at different stages of in vitro drug release, the 685.60 nm fluorine atomic emission line was used to quantify the amount of API. Results indicate that at all time points examined, LIBS and traditional in vitro testing by UPLC were highly correlative, therefore supporting the potential application of LIBS for rapid visualization and direct quantitative mapping of drug in a LAI implant.