Segmented Pharmaceutical Tablet for Precise Partial Dosing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing pharmaceutical tablets face challenges in accurate dose division when broken, leading to inconsistent and imprecise dosage adjustments, particularly for medications like warfarin with narrow therapeutic ranges, due to issues like uneven breaking, chipping, and crumbling, which existing scoring methods fail to adequately address.

Innovation Solution

A method involving a pharmaceutical tablet configuration with two layers, where one layer contains a pharmacologically effective amount of the drug and the other is pharmaceutically inactive, allowing for precise breaking to create a partial dose tablette with minimal drug loss, using a deeply scored or unscored approach to ensure accurate dosing.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If conventional scoring methods are used on pharmaceutical tablets, then the tablet can be broken for dose adjustment, but the breaking is uneven causing chipping and crumbling that leads to imprecise dosing

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetablet breakabilityVSAvoiddose accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The tablet is divided into distinct segments separated by deep scores (extending at least 50% through the tablet depth). These pre-formed segments allow the tablet to break cleanly along defined lines, eliminating uneven breaking and chipping while enabling precise dose adjustment by selecting specific segments.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The score lines are pre-formed during tablet manufacturing to extend deeply through the tablet structure. This preliminary action creates predetermined breaking planes that guide the breaking process, ensuring consistent and accurate dose division when the patient breaks the tablet, rather than relying on ad-hoc breaking without guidance.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Adaptability or versatility

If tablets are broken for dose adjustment, then flexible dosing is achieved, but mass loss occurs due to crumbling and chipping

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedose flexibilityVSAvoiddrug mass loss

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of substance

Solution Approach 1:

By creating well-defined segments through deep scoring, the tablet breaks into clean, distinct pieces with minimal碎屑. This segmentation reduces drug mass loss during breaking while maintaining dose flexibility, as patients can select specific segments without significant medication waste from crumbling.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

3Manufacturing precision

If deep scoring is implemented to improve breaking accuracy, then dose precision is enhanced, but tablet structural integrity may be compromised

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebreaking accuracyVSAvoidtablet integrity

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSStrength

Solution Approach 1:

The score lines create localized zones of reduced strength only where needed for breaking, while the rest of the tablet maintains full structural integrity. The deep scores (extending at least 50% through the depth) provide controlled weak points for accurate breaking, yet the overall tablet structure remains strong enough for handling and storage.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentUS7838031B2Method of administering a partial dose using a segmented pharmaceutical tablet

Publication Date: 2010.11.23 ACCU BREAK TECHNOLOGIES INC

AI summary

A method for providing partial doses of a drug or drugs is disclosed. The method includes breaking of a tablet configured to have an active layer as a first segment and an inactive support layer or substrate as a second segment, or breaking a layered tablet through a first active segment which is deeply or completely scored.