Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24867423›Full record

ArticlePharmaceutical research2014

NanoXCT: a novel technique to probe the internal architecture of pharmaceutical particles.

Jennifer Wong, Dexter D'Sa, Matthew Foley, John Gar Yan Chan, Hak-Kim Chan

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Pharmaceutical research, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Dry Powder Inhalers for Delivery of Synthetic Biomolecules.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Review
  3. Characterization of Pharmaceutical Tablets by X-ray Tomography.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023
    Review
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Jennifer WongAdvanced Drug Delivery Group, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia.
Dexter D'Sa
Matthew Foley
John Gar Yan Chan
Hak-Kim Chan

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo demonstrate the novel application of nano X-ray computed tomography (NanoXCT) for visualizing and quantifying the internal structures of pharmaceutical particles.

methodsAn Xradia NanoXCT-100, which produces ultra high-resolution and non-destructive imaging that can be reconstructed in three-dimensions (3D), was used to characterize several pharmaceutical particles. Depending on the particle size of the sample, NanoXCT was operated in Zernike Phase Contrast (ZPC) mode using either: 1) large field of view (LFOV), which has a two-dimensional (2D) spatial resolution of 172 nm; or 2) high resolution (HRES) that has a resolution of 43.7 nm. Various pharmaceutical particles with different physicochemical properties were investigated, including raw (2-hydroxypropyl)-beta-cyclodextrin (HβCD), poly (lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) microparticles, and spray-dried particles that included smooth and nanomatrix bovine serum albumin (BSA), lipid-based carriers, and mannitol.

resultsBoth raw HβCD and PLGA microparticles had a network of voids, whereas spray-dried smooth BSA and mannitol generally had a single void. Lipid-based carriers and nanomatrix BSA particles resulted in low quality images due to high noise-to-signal ratio. The quantitative capabilities of NanoXCT were also demonstrated where spray-dried mannitol was found to have an average void volume of 0.117 ± 0.247 μm(3) and average void-to-material percentage of 3.5%. The single PLGA particle had values of 1993 μm(3) and 59.3%, respectively.

conclusionsThis study reports the first series of non-destructive 3D visualizations of inhalable pharmaceutical particles. Overall, NanoXCT presents a powerful tool to dissect and observe the interior of pharmaceutical particles, including those of a respirable size.

Indexed as

2-Hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrinAdministration, Inhalationbeta-CyclodextrinsDrug CarriersLactic AcidLipidsMannitolNanoparticlesParticle SizePolyglycolic AcidPolylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid CopolymerSerum Albumin, BovineSignal-To-Noise RatioTechnology, PharmaceuticalTomography, X-Ray Computed2-Hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrinbeta-CyclodextrinsDrug CarriersLactic AcidLipidsMannitolPolyglycolic AcidPolylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid CopolymerSerum Albumin, Bovine

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.