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Article: `Virtual Stomach' reveals pill's path. (Research Notebook).
- Article from:
- FDA Consumer
- Article date:
- November 1, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 U.S. Government Printing Office. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Pennsylvania State University mechanical engineers, working with medical and pharmaceutical researchers, have developed the first computer-generated "virtual stomach" to follow the path of extended-release tablets that are designed to remain in the stomach for hours while slowly releasing medicine.
According to the researchers, many medications are prepared in extended-release form; however, the details of exactly how the pills break down and release medicine in the stomach are largely unknown. The new "virtual stomach" has shown that tablet motion and mixing are highly sensitive to the pill's location in the stomach and to the coordination between the stomach's ...