T-Ray moves closer to commercialising tablet analyser

Canada's T-Ray Science has completed a pre-production prototype of its Authenticare analyser device intended for checking the authenticity of tablets and other solid dosage forms. 

The company said it intends to target the device toward pharmacies, law enforcement agencies, corporate security, and others – including consumers - who "need to identify counterfeit drugs that otherwise appear identical to the brand name drugs."

Thomas Braun, chief executive of T-Ray Science, said: "Our goal is to offer a counterfeit drug detector which would be affordable in Asia, Africa and South America where the need is the greatest." 

Braun believes the Authenticare product will cost about 75 per cent less than existing counterfeit drug detectors.

"With the completion of the pre-production prototype, we are one step closer to market," he said.

The technology underpinning T Ray's analyser is Terahertz radiation, a non-ionising form of radiation that lies between the infrared and microwave range of the electromagnetic spectrum. 

The company has exclusive rights to a dual mode photoconductor chip which detects and generates Terahertz radiation. It can handle pulsed radiation - which lends itself to rapid imaging - and continuous wave for generating high-resolution scans.

The Authenticare prototype is designed to be a portable, non-destructive detector which can connect to a standard laptop computer for control and readout. T Ray Science is planning to manufacture 10 of the prototypes this year for validation, safety, and field testing.

The aim is to get a foothold in the pharmaceutical market and then partner with a large biopharmaceutical company to help expand the applications for Terahertz radiation, said Braun.

In addition to authenticating tablets, T Ray Science is looking at other pharmaceutical applications including quantifying the levels of ingredients in a dosage form for quality control purposes, analysing tablet coatings, in-line quality assurance and drug stability testing after manufacture. 

There are other pharmaceutical testing systems that make use of Terahertz radiation, but these tend to be large, costly machines which are unable to achieve rapid imaging and high resolution at the same time, according to Braun.