PTI and Nikka Densok team on lab-scale HVLD

PTI Inspection Systems and Nikka Densok USA have teamed up to take high-voltage leak detection (HVLD) from the factory floor to the pharmaceutical lab.

The partnership, which was unveiled at Interphex 2011 in New York, is focused around Nikka’s new lab-scale detection system that is designed as a non-destructive means of finding pinhole micro leaks in ampoules, vials, BFS containers, syringes and pouches

in-Pharmatechnologist.com spoke with Nikka Densok president Brian Ball about the new technology, who explained that while HVLD has been available for years it has not been practical to apply the approach for small-scale QA/QC and stability analysis.

He went on to explain that the new unit, which is an extension of Nikka Densok’s existing leak detection platform, enables data obtained in the lab to be used to develop high-speed, commercial scale production processes.

This ability, Ball continued, has the potential to save pharmaceutical and contract manufacturing organisations (CMO) money by detecting any packaging problems at the earliest possible development stage in a manner that does not destroy potentially very valuable product samples.