Compression Vehicle: A Technical Review

Abstract

The compressed dosage forms such as tablets are the most preferred and widely accepted due to their dosing accuracy, compactness, manufacturing efficiency, stability and better patient compliance. Pharmaceutical Diluents or filler binders, usually referred to as Compression vehicles, contribute significantly to the formulation blend, especially in compressed solid dosage forms containing potent active pharmaceutical ingredients. The functionality of these filler binders mainly depends on their physicochemical and mechanical properties. They provide performance characteristics and quality attributes of the compressed solid dosage forms. Understanding the effect of compression vehicles' bulk and particle level properties is of prime importance in optimising various process parameters and unit operations. The mechanical properties of a compression blend viz plasticity, elasticity, viscoelasticity, brittleness, and bonding index play an essential role in the effective compaction of compressed solid dosage forms. In addition to this, the porosity, volume, density or void-volume ratio of compact with applied pressure is required to understand the compaction behaviour of solid to form a compact with well-defined geometry.

Keywords

• compression vehicle
• filler binder
• pharmaceutical diluent
• compaction
• consolidation
• excipient functionality