Pharmaceutical Microscopy

Microscopy plays an integral role in the research and development of new medicines. Pharmaceutical Microscopy describes a wide variety of techniques together with numerous practical applications of importance in drug development. The first section presents general methods and applications with an emphasis on the physical science aspects. Techniques covered include optical crystallography, thermal microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry, microspectroscopy (infrared and Raman), and particle size and shape by image analysis. The second section presents applications of these techniques to specific topics of pharmaceutical interest, including studies of polymorphism, particle size and shape analysis, and contaminant identification. Pharmaceutical Microscopy is designed for those scientists who must use these techniques to solve pharmaceutical problems but do not need to become expert microscopists. Consequently, each section has exercises designed to teach the reader how to use and apply the techniques in the book. Although the focus is on pharmaceutical development, workers in other fields such as food science and organic chemistry will also benefit from the discussion of techniques and the exercises. Provides comprehensive coverage of key microscopy techniques used in pharmaceutical development Helps the reader to solve specific problems in pharmaceutical quality assurance Oriented and designed for pharmaceutical scientists who need to use microscopy but are not expert microscopists Includes a large number of practical exercises to give the reader hands-on experience with the techniques Written by an author with 21 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry

Powdered Crude Drug Microscopy of Leaves and Barks investigates various microscopic techniques used in the examination of structural and cellular features in order to determine their botanical origin. These methods are useful in identifying species with similar morphological characters. Today, there is a variety of methods available to authenticate herbal drugs, ranging from simple morphological examination to physical and chemical analysis, and DNA molecular biology. Due to cost, powder microscopy is the most practical method for primary authentication. Botanical microscopy is a unique, valuable, rapid and cost-effective assessment tool, and plays an important role in the authentication and assessment of medicinal plants. This book is an essential resource for students and researchers involved in the study of plants and natural products, as well as professionals in industries manufacturing plant-based products for use during quality control and assurance steps. Provides a fundamental understanding of the macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of crude drugs, including photographs of herbs in their raw and powder forms. Presents specific characteristics and sub-features for identifying barks and leaves, including stone cells, calcium oxalate crystals, starch grains, medullary rays, fibres, sclereids, cork, isolated oil cells, tubular lactiferous canals, phloem parenchyma, masses, rhytidoma, parenchyma and secretory canals. Includes specific characteristics for identifying leaves, such as epidermis, stomata, trichomes, calcium oxalate crystals, fibres, cell contents, cystoliths, lamina, starch grains, tracheids, lactiferous canals and xylem vessels. Demonstrates how the specificity of characteristics for a particular bark or leaf in powder form can lead to its authentication. Features standard operating protocols for preparation of slides and lab samples using industrially operated grinders to observe general as well as distinguishing microscopical characters of barks and leaves.

Detecting Signals at the Single Molecule Level: Pioneering Achievements in Microscopy Recent advances have led to such remarkable improvements in fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy’s (FLIM) capacity for contrast and sensitivity that researchers can now employ it to detect signals at the single molecule level. FLIM also offers the additional benefit of independence from fluorophore concentration and excitation intensity. Moreover, its unique sensitivity makes it an excellent reporter of conformational changes and of variations in the molecular surroundings of biological molecules. Most of this improvement and discovery have occurred during the past decade, and, to date, information that would benefit a broad range of researchers remains scattered in the literature. Edited by two of the top pioneers in the field, FLIM Microscopy in Biology and Medicine presents the fundamentals of FLIM along with a number of advanced considerations so that a wider audience can appreciate recent and potential improvements that make it such a valuable tool. New Opportunities for Biomedical Researchers... New Challenges for Microscopy Researchers Discussion sections in all the chapters clearly show the challenges for implementing FLIM for various applications. Certain chapters discuss limits on the number of photons required for highly accurate lifetime determinations, as well as the accuracy with which multiple, closely associated lifetime components can reliably be determined. Such considerations are important for the user when he or she is selecting the most advantageous method of FLIM to use for a particular application. While this book provides an introduction for those new to FLIM, it gathers a wealth of material to enhance the work of experts involved in pioneering technological improvements, as well as those research opportunities in this unique and promising area of microscopy.

This monograph demonstrates the latest developments in two-photon fluorescence microscopy and second-harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy, including coverage of high-resolution microscopy methods, such as STED microscopy. A special focus lies on clinical applications of these methods, e.g. in dermatology, ophtalmology, neuro sciences and cell biology.

Up to about twenty-five years ago, virtually the entire field of microscopy could be overseen and even practized by any active research worker. The rapid evolution which microscopy in its broadest sense has since undergone and which has contributed greatly to our insight in many fields of biological science and medicine has, however, lead to a progressive specialisation. Both experienced investigators in clinical and biological laboratories and post graduate students, confronted with a limited number of microscopic tech niques in their daily research work, have increasing difficulty in keeping (or obtaining) a general idea of the many time-honoured and new possibilities which microscopy has to offer. This book has been written with the aim of presenting general informa tion on light microscopic techniques, at a level somewhere in between booklets like those provided by microscope manufacturers (which are often too much focussed on the production program of a particular make) and very advanced treatises with a thorough mathematical treatment of all phenomena concerned. The physically oriented texts moreover often do not sufficiently take into account the practical situation in a medical or biolog ical laboratory; on the other hand, the value of really understanding what one is doing in using a microscopic technique is often underestimated. At tempt has been made, therefore, to present sufficient background informa tion necessary for a rational application of the different microscopical tech niques in their mutual relationship.

Neil S. Lagali, PhD, obtained undergraduate (McMaster University) and graduate (University of Alberta) degrees in Canada. He has had several years of industry experience and held postdoctoral fellowships in Canada, The Netherlands, and Sweden. He has published over 35 peer-reviewed articles in international journals in the fields of engineering, biomedical optics, biomaterials, ophthalmology, and translational medicine. He has co-authored several book chapters, and holds patents in the fields of optical devices, biosensors, and non-invasive imaging methods. He gives numerous lectures and courses on microscopy and clinical imaging, is a regular invited speaker and session organizer at international conferences, and is an associate editor for the journal BMC Ophthalmology. Dr. Lagali is with the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linkoping University, Sweden.