Automated inspection lets inhaler manufacturers breathe innovation

Central to effectively and safely treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases are pMDIs characterized by high-quality formulations and dispensing units. To ensure the integrity of the canisters, they undergo leak testing as part of quality control measures.

During the past decades, manufacturers of aerosol can fillers have relied on time consuming, costly, and inefficient processes to perform this analysis. Typically, batches are weighed and quarantined for a set time (ranging from a few days to four weeks) before being weighed a second time to determine if there has been any leakage.

A fully automated machine, developed by Optimal Industrial Automation addresses these shortcomings. iPass for MDI Aerosol Micro Leak Detection System allows manufacturers to reliably identify and reject individual faulty canisters in a continuous process. This helps to shorten leak testing times, while increasing accuracy and reducing the excess waste generated by destroying entire batches when leaks are detected.  The system can be used to replace traditional testing techniques or used in combination with traditional loss-in-weight testing. It has the significant benefit of greatly reducing the chance of a whole batch being rejected or a batch being released with a few leaking cans.

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Looking at where the puck is going
The innovative setup consists of pucks, SCARA robots and a conveyor system with an integrated gas analyzer, leveraging industrial automation to free up operators from carrying out repetitive tasks.

pMDI canisters are taken from an upstream external conveyor and moved onto an infeed conveyor, which features an upstream machine monitoring system and queue control to ensure synchronization. The units are picked and placed by the SCARA robots into individual pucks and transported on a constant speed carousel conveyor. One SCARA robot operates the infeed, while the other the outfeed.

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The conveyor transports the pucks through a gas analyzer system tunnel, containing a high precision gas leak detector, which shortens testing from days or weeks to seconds, as well as improving detection and traceability. The system purges the air around the pMDI immediately before it enters the tunnel, leaving the pucks individually sealed. Once the location of the individual pMDI canister is identified, the gas analyzer removes a sample from the puck to measure any propellant gas leakage and log the result of each unit. The sensor is highly sensitive and can detect even extremely low gas leak rates, delivering a better insight than traditional testing.

The canisters are then removed from the pucks by the second SCARA robot to a constant speed outfeed conveyor, with their location tracked. Individual pMDIs with identified leakage are removed at a reject station on the outfeed conveyor and collected in a reject bin. Therefore, only individual faulty products are disposed of, rather than entire batches.

Data-driven operations
KPIs are generated, including the rejection rate, with an alarm occurring in the event of an excessive reject quantity. This insight, coupled with exportable reports of canister analytical data for each batch, helps pharmaceutical companies automatically generate extensive documentation for quality auditing and traceability. Moreover, it can support the digitalization of businesses.

In addition, detection of fallen canisters and real-time notifications for operator intervention as well as flow monitoring to prevent build-back onto the production conveyor make the entire setup up particularly efficient, further streamlining the process. As a result of these multiple components, the unit can independently inspect 180 pMDI per minute. Higher and lower speed designs are also available.

By using the Optimal’s iPass for MDI machine, pharmaceutical companies can succeed in improving efficiencies in leak testing. Thanks to this, they can boost productivity as well as quality management strategies while optimizing resource utilization, running costs and waste generation. Ultimately, they can quickly deliver safe medicaments to patients worldwide.