Vibrational Spectroscopy of Pain Relievers: Traditional and Remote Raman Techniques

The application of vibrational spectroscopy in the pharmaceutical industry is widely investigated, from the quality assurance of the product during the production process control to the final products' quality control and the authentication of products on the markets.This study focuses on non-contact and noninvasive detection and identification of pain-relievers at 1 -5 meters standoff distances.The specimens analyzed include standard laboratorygrade active ingredients and commercially available pain relievers in powder, solid and liquid forms.All the remote measurements captured revealed the Raman signatures of the specimens, with varying peak intensities.To correlate the band intensities captured with the standoff distances between the laser source and the specimens, the intensity ratios of the two prominent peaks of the laboratory grade reference active ingredient (1607 and 1319 cm -1 ) normalized with 1319 cm -1 are used.The results of the study suggest the viability of standoff Raman spectroscopy for routine monitoring and identification of pharma-ceuticals, including counterfeit pain relievers.