Laser drilling is a proven, economically viable way to create sub-millimeter apertures in pharmaceutical tablets. These apertures play an important role in modern drug delivery systems, which provide many health benefits like decreasing dosing frequencies, achieving consistent drug concentrations in the blood and enabling customized delivery profiles.

Osmotic drug delivery systems are especially valuable, as they control the release of medication into the body. Pharmaceutical tablets for these systems are made in layers—including an indigestible coating, medication, a possible second coating and more medication. Lasers drill through the various layers—creating an aperture or pattern of apertures that release the medication into the stomach. You can meter the medication’s release by varying the size and number of apertures.

WHY LASER DRILLING IS IMPORTANT FOR TIME-RELEASE MEDICATION

Laser tablet drilling is a largely self-operating process that visually verifies aperture accuracy even at speeds up to 140,000 tablets per hour. These systems produce the small apertures (200 μm to 1 mm) required by osmotic pump tablets with the necessary dimensional tolerances and cosmetic appearance—making laser drilling the technology of choice for modern pharmaceutical tablet production.

In addition to their high speeds, non-contact laser systems achieve an infinite number of aperture sizes and pattern variations. They also react favorably with medications and their carrier materials during the drilling process. Pairing your laser system with vision capabilities lets you control aperture quality with even greater precision while catching mis-drilled tablets.

CMS Laser is a leading industry innovator in tablet drilling systems for pharmaceutical companies. Our experience with high-speed, reliable laser systems makes us the best choice for drilling your tablets and capsules.