Pharmaceutical Lab Equipment Key Terms

Learn the different types of tools used in today's pharmaceutical labs

There are many different types of pharmaceutical lab equipment. After all, laboratories develop and manufacture the medications on the market today. In order to comply with regulations, they must use items such as sterilization equipment and in order to handle the chemistry behind developing and mixing today’s drugs, scientists must have access to tools such as microscopes and centrifuges. Understanding some of the key terms related to pharmaceutical lab equipment will give people a better understanding of what types of things used to develop and manufacture today’s medications.

 

Capsule sealing

Filling and sealing equipment fills those medications that come in capsule form. These pieces fill the drug capsules with either powder or liquid forms of drugs and then seal them with either bands or microspray technology.
Try: Through explanations of some of its products, Capsugel explains the purpose of filling and sealing equipment found in many pharmaceutical labs.

Sterilizer

Sterilizers clean and decontaminate laboratory equipment and utensils. This can be done with steam or dry heat. An autoclave is a common type of sterilizer used by many pharmaceutical labs and medical facilities.
Try: Kendell Corporation explains of what sterilizers do and features some of its products that will help you achieve this.

Microscopes

Microscopes are pieces of pharmaceutical lab equipment used to magnify objects you can't see with the naked eye. There are many types of microscopes, and some used in pharmaceutical labs are powerful enough to magnify the components of drugs down to the molecular level.
Try: This entry on wiseGEEK gives plenty of detailed information on the different types of microscopes used in science.

Mass spectrometer

A mass spectrometer measures the characteristics of individual molecules. This comes in handy in a pharmaceutical lab because often, new drugs come from the combination of many different substances. It is important to be able to break the chemical composition of these drugs down so companies can develop and record the exact formulas.
Try: This page on the Michigan State University website delves deeply in to the definition and uses of mass spectrometers.

Laboratory centrifuges

When a lab wants to separate the different substances in a compound, it uses laboratory centrifuges. This is an important piece of pharmaceutical lab equipment since medications are often a combination of different ingredients. Centrifuges spin liquids at a high rate of speed, causing particles of different densities to separate.
Try: Medical Supplies & Equipment Company will teach you about centrifuges and the importance of having the right speed for your applications.

Pill counter

After the drugs have been developed and sealed in their capsules, the pill counter comes into play. This tool uses weight and mass measurements based on specific drug information that you enter to gauge how many pills are on the trays. Some machines even dispense the medication into the proper bottles automatically.
Try: Check out Rx Count Corporation when you want to learn all about pill counters.

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