Application of Heated Inlet Extensions to the TSI 3306/3321 System: Comparison with the Andersen Cascade Impactor and Next Generation Impactor

Pharmaceutical aerosol size distribution analysis based on multi-stage inertial impaction is well accepted, though laborious. The TSI 3306 Impactor Inlet/3321 time-of-flight (TOF) Aerodynamic Particle Size Analyzer (APS®) has been evaluated for its ease of use and potential for time savings during product development. However, instrument inlet modifications may be necessary for increased correlation with equivalent measurements obtained by inertial impaction following pharmacopeial methods. A heated inlet extension tube was located between the USP/Ph.Eur. throat and the Single-Stage Impactor (SSI) to promote evaporation of residual ethanol from aerosol droplets, generated from two formulations containing ethanol as semi-volatile solubilizer (8 and 20% w/w) for the active pharmaceutical ingredient. As temperature and extension length increased, the SSI-measured fine particle fraction (aerosol < 4.7 µm aerodynamic diameter) also increased, for the aerosols used in this study. These values correlated quite c...