Noble Metal Nanoparticle Taggants for Product Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for detecting and tracking pharmaceutical or nutritional products face challenges due to the small quantities of active ingredients and their rapid metabolism, making direct detection difficult, and existing chemical taggants may not be biologically inert or distinguishable.
Innovation Solution
The use of noble metal nanoparticles of varying shapes and sizes as taggants, which are detectably distinct due to their optical properties, allowing for spectroscopic detection and differentiation, and can be mixed or adhered to pharmaceutical or nutritional products to provide identifiable characteristics along the distribution chain.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If chemical taggants are used to identify pharmaceutical products, then detectability is improved, but biological inertness may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state and composition parameters by using noble metal nanoparticles instead of traditional chemical taggants. These nanoparticles provide strong optical signals for detection while maintaining biological inertness, thus improving detectability without compromising safety
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite nanoparticle structures with core-shell configurations, where the core provides optical detectability and the shell ensures biological compatibility and inertness. This composite approach allows simultaneous optimization of both detectability and biological safety
2Loss of information
If multiple taggants are used to provide different information about products, then information capacity is improved, but distinguishability among taggants becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different optical properties to different nanoparticle populations within the same product. Each nanoparticle type has distinct localized surface plasmon resonance characteristics, allowing multiple information carriers to be distinguished through their unique optical signatures
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes color changes and optical property variations of noble metal nanoparticles based on their size, shape, and composition. Different nanoparticles exhibit distinct colors and spectroscopic signatures, enabling differentiation of multiple taggants through optical detection methods
3Quantity of substance
If small quantities of active ingredients are used, then product potency is improved, but detectability of the ingredient becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces nanoparticle taggants as intermediary markers that are co-administered with the active ingredient. These nanoparticles serve as detectable proxies that track the presence and movement of the active ingredient through the body, enabling detection of trace amounts that would otherwise be undetectable
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables the reliable detection and tracking of pharmaceutical or nutritional products by providing biologically inert, detectable, and distinguishable taggants that can be used to identify multiple data points in the distribution chain, enhancing product identification and safety.
Implementation Method 1
noble metal nanoparticles of varying shapes and sizes as taggants, which are detectably distinct due to their optical properties, allowing for spectroscopic detection and differentiation
Data Source
AI summary
We disclose a method of tagging pharmaceutical and nutritional products with nanoparticles which include noble metals. The disclosure describes a plurality of nanoparticles each with either a different size and/or shape. The nanoparticles of different sizes and shapes are distinguishable using spectroscopic techniques because each is associated with different optical properties and have a different spectral signature. The different optical properties are at least due to the unique size or shape of the nanoparticles. Each of the plurality of nanoparticles may be associated with a different characteristic of the tagged pharmaceutical or nutritional product. The method includes mixing the nanoparticles with or adhering the nanoparticles to the tagged pharmaceutical or nutritional product. Two or more of the plurality of nanoparticles may be mixed with or adhered to the tagged pharmaceutical or nutritional product in a ratio and the ratio may be associated with a characteristic of the product.