Pharmaceutical Microscopy

Microscopy plays an integral role in the research and development of new medicines. **__Pharmaceutical Microscopy__** describes a wide variety of techniques together with numerous practical applications of importance in drug development. The first section presents general methods and applications with an emphasis on the physical science aspects. Techniques covered include optical crystallography, thermal microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry, microspectroscopy (infrared and Raman), and particle size and shape by image analysis. The second section presents applications of these techniques to specific topics of pharmaceutical interest, including studies of polymorphism, particle size and shape analysis, and contaminant identification. **__Pharmaceutical Microscopy__** is designed for those scientists who must use these techniques to solve pharmaceutical problems but do not need to become expert microscopists. Consequently, each section has exercises designed to teach the reader how to use and apply the techniques in the book. Although the focus is on pharmaceutical development, workers in other fields such as food science and organic chemistry will also benefit from the discussion of techniques and the exercises. * Provides comprehensive coverage of key microscopy techniques used in pharmaceutical development * Helps the reader to solve specific problems in pharmaceutical quality assurance * Oriented and designed for pharmaceutical scientists who need to use microscopy but are not expert microscopists * Includes a large number of practical exercises to give the reader hands-on experience with the techniques * Written by an author with 21 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Introduction....Pages 1-6 Polarized Light Microscopy....Pages 7-64 Thermal Microscopy....Pages 65-84 Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry....Pages 85-130 Infrared and Raman Microscopy....Pages 131-156 Specialized Microscopy Techniques....Pages 157-172 Image Analysis....Pages 173-211 Polymorphism....Pages 213-246 Size and Shape Analysis....Pages 247-276 Contaminant Analysis....Pages 277-303 Conclusion....Pages 305-309 Back Matter....Pages 311-321 From an author with more than two decades' experience in the pharmaceutical industry, this volume explains the central role played by microscopy in developing new medicines. Aimed at non-specialists, it covers key techniques and solutions to specific problems.