Ward Group News: Anti-Counterfeit Protection Using X-Ray Barcodes
Posted: 11/9/11
The Ward Group has developed a method of providing anticounterfeit protection of pharmaceutical products using spatial mapping of x-ray-detectable barcodes and logos. The work, published in the October 1, 2011 issue of Analytical Chemistry, was conducted by Post-Doctoral Fellow Daniele Musumeci, X-ray Crystallographer Chunhua Hu and Professor Michael D. Ward, in the New York University Department of Chemistry.ABSTRACT:
Counterfeit pharmaceutical products are a global threat to public health, and they undermine the credibility and the financial success of the producers of genuine products. The escalating circulation of counterfeit drugs demands new anticounterfeit measures that permit rapid screening, are nondestructive, and cannot be circumvented easily. Herein we describe a micro-X-ray diffraction (μ-XRD) protocol for this purpose capable of reading barcodes and logos fabricated on various substrates using soft-lithography stamping of compounds that can be read by X-ray diffraction but are invisible to the naked eye or optical microscopy. This method is demonstrated with barcodes and logos of compounds, approved by the Food and Drug Administration, printed on flat substrates as well as commercial aspirin and ibuprofen tablets. The μ-XRD protocol is nondestructive, automated, and user-friendly and can be used to certify the authenticity of drug tablets by mapping hidden patterns printed under the tablet coating and on packages.
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities program (Grant CHE-0840277), the NSF MRSEC program (Grant DMR-0820341), and the NYU Molecular Design Institute.
Updated on 01/24/2012