Abstract
This research is an international collaboration among three organizations: the National Science and Technology Development Agency, the Pharmaceutical Organization, and the University of Oxford. Its purpose is to study the potential use of temperature sensor technology in pharmaceutical and medical applications. Temperature sensor technology can measure Thermal Product (TP), a heat property that is specific to each type of substance, and varies with the substance's density, specific heat capacity, and thermal conductivity. The University of Oxford has developed this technology for commercial use in the aerospace industry, specifically for detecting metal contamination in engine oil. We performed a feasibility study for commercial applications in various aspects in this project. The technology is tested in three areas: quality control of pharmaceuticals and raw materials, detection of counterfeit drugs or substandard drugs, and production processes related to medical cannabis. Collaborative research has been conducted to improve the sensor system for more appropriate use. From preliminary experiments, it was concluded that the current sensor system works well with liquid substances and has high sensitivity to detect changes in substance proportions. Therefore, it is suitable for use in quality control processes that require accurate measurement of substance proportions. The system is feasible both technically and commercially for use in quality control processes for drug production and pharmaceutical raw materials. It can help increase efficiency in production by adding real-time quality inspection and control processes during production stages, as the current quality control mainly relies on final product testing. The research team has proposed to install and test the system in the production process of Deferasirox, a pharmaceutical raw material product developed by the Governmental Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO), which is entering the commercial production stage in the middle of 2024. This will be the practical application of research results for commercial use which can also be expanded in the future.
