Measurement of Paracetamol Concentration Using an Erbium-Doped Fiber Ring Cavity
Liliana Soares,
Rosa Ana Pérez-Herrera,
Susana Novais,
António Ferreira,
Susana Silva,
Orlando Frazão
Affiliations
Liliana Soares
INESC TEC—Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science, Rua do Campo Alegre 687, 4150-179 Porto, Portugal
Rosa Ana Pérez-Herrera
Department of Electrical, Electronic and Communication Engineering, Public University of Navarra, 31006 Pamplona, Spain
Susana Novais
INESC TEC—Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science, Rua do Campo Alegre 687, 4150-179 Porto, Portugal
António Ferreira
LEPABE—Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s/n, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Susana Silva
INESC TEC—Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science, Rua do Campo Alegre 687, 4150-179 Porto, Portugal
Orlando Frazão
INESC TEC—Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science, Rua do Campo Alegre 687, 4150-179 Porto, Portugal
Process Analytical Technology (PAT) has been increasingly used in the pharmaceutical industry to monitor essential parameters in real-time during pharmaceutical processes. The concentration of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), such as paracetamol, is one of these parameters, and controlling its variations allows for optimization of the production process. In this study, a refractometric sensor, implemented by an interrogation system based on an Erbium-Doped Fiber Ring Cavity (EDFRC), was presented and experimentally demonstrated. The Cavity Ring proposed included a 1 × 3 coupler. One port of the coupler was used to increase the optical power of the system through a Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG), and the other two ports were used as sensing head and reference. The sensor detected variations of paracetamol concentration with a sensitivity of [(−1.00 ± 0.05) × 10−3] nW/(g/kg) and a resolution of 5.53 g/kg. The results demonstrate the potential of this technology as a possible non-invasive PAT tool.
