A research team at Chuo University, Japan, led by Assistant Professor Kou Li, has developed a non-destructive, real-time inspection system for pharmaceutical tablets using a combination of terahertz (THz)–infrared (IR) photo-monitoring techniques and ultrabroadband carbon nanotube (CNT)-based imagers.
The breakthrough, published in Light: Science & Applications, addresses a longstanding challenge in the pharmaceutical industry: the lack of compact, in-line inspection systems capable of detecting material composition and foreign substances in pills without disrupting manufacturing workflows.
While spectroscopy has been widely studied for pharmaceutical testing, its bulky equipment and in-line integration issues have limited adoption. The new approach overcomes these challenges by using compact photo-monitoring systems that selectively extract informative irradiation wavelengths, enabling detailed analysis of pills in real time.
At the core of the system is a CNT photo-thermoelectric imager that operates across ultrabroadband sub-THz–IR regions, outperforming conventional sensors. The CNT technology offers strong photo-absorption, solution-processable thin-film fabrication, and flexibility for integration at pharmaceutical monitoring sites.
By leveraging permeable sub-THz–IR irradiation, which provides wavelength-specific transmittance values for non-metallic materials, the system can identify constituent compounds and detect concealed foreign substances inside tablets. The non-contact method allows manufacturers to conduct in-line quality inspections without damaging or disrupting pills during production.
The system combines functional thin-film imagers with compact photo-sources, demonstrating a scalable, printable, and attachable solution for industrial deployment.
This innovation marks a significant step toward safer and more reliable pharmaceutical distribution cycles, where non-destructive testing (NDT) ensures real-time quality assurance during mass production.
Reference: https://phys.org/news/2025-09-permeable-pharmaceuticals-real-tablet-quality.html
