Rapid diagnosis of drug agglomeration and crystallinity in pharmaceutical preparations by electrospray laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry imaging.

In this study we evaluate the applicability of electrospray laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry imaging (ELDI-MSI) to interrogate tablet formulations for the spatial distributions of ingredients. Tablet formulations with varying amounts of crystalline acetaminophen (the active pharmaceutical ingredient, API) were analyzed to determine if crystallinity could be evaluated via ELDI-MSI. ELDI-MSI concurrently imaged the (API, binders, and surfactants. The spatial distributions of amorphous API were very similar to that of the surfactants and different from that of crystalline API. The higher the crystallinity in the tablet formulation, the more agglomeration of the active ingredient was observed by ELDI-MSI. This study shows the capability of ELDI-MSI to diagnose agglomeration and crystallinity content in pharmaceutical preparations with little to no sample preparation. The ability to concurrently image APIs with other components provides valuable information as to their form in the tablet.