The VK 905 Mobile Washing Station allows scientists to clean dissolution vessels without removing them from dissolution testing systems.
Scientists in the pharmaceutical and nutritional industries use dissolution testers to determine bioavailability, or the rate at which active ingredients in drug forms become available to be used by the body. Bioavailability testing by this method is required throughout the pharmaceutical manufacturing process to ensure product quality and stability.
The new station measures approximately 1 metre tall and 75cm wide and can be wheeled to and fro to service vessels in place, alleviating the time-consuming need of re-verification for subsequent testing.
Ordinarily, the location of each vessel is recorded when a vessel is placed in a dissolution bath and the centring is measured and the height adjustment of the paddle is verified.
Each time a vessel is removed for cleaning, the verification process needs to be repeated to maintain accurate parameters. Additionally, use of the VK 905 ensures each vessel is cleaned consistently in the same manner, according to Varian.
The standard heating capability on the VK 905 allows the use of cleaning fluids heated up to 50 degrees C, and each one-litre vessel can be cleaned in less than 30 seconds.
"The VK 905 is a cleaning, containment and disposal system all-in-one,", said Varian, adding that it is compatible with any vendor's dissolution tester.