Drug Delivery Systems and Industrial Pharmacy Review

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering drug delivery systems, pharmaceutical compounding, packaging standards, excipients, dosage form design, and manufacturing processes based on DDS-IPS 2026 course notes.

Dosage form

A product designed for administration to the body in the diagnosis or treatment of disease.

Container

A device that holds a drug and may be in direct contact with the drug.

Well-closed container

A container that protects the contents from extraneous solids and from loss of the article under ordinary conditions of handling, shipment, storage, and distribution.

Single-dose parenteral container

A hermetic container, such as an ampule, designed to hold a single dose of a parenteral medication and not permitting withdrawal of successive portions.

Type II glass

A treated soda-lime glass container suitable for pharmaceutical preparations.

FD&C Yellow #5

A color additive also known as Tartrazine that can cause allergic reactions in patients sensitive to aspirin.

Humectant

A substance used in preparations to prevent them from drying out due to its ability to retain moisture.

Extemporaneous compounding

The practice of preparing a customized dosage form to meet the specific therapeutic needs of an individual patient.

Eutectic mixture

A combination of drugs that liquefies upon mixing due to a mutual lowering of their melting points below room temperature.

Efflorescent powder

A hydrated powder that releases its water of crystallization when triturated or stored under conditions of low relative humidity.

Deliquescent substance

A hygroscopic chemical that absorbs sufficient atmospheric moisture to dissolve and liquefy.

Trituration

The comminution process of grinding a substance in a mortar with a pestle to achieve particle size reduction.

Very fine powder

A powder defined by the USP as one in which all particles completely pass through a $\text{No. } 80$ sieve, with no limit placed on greater fineness.

Insufflations

Finely divided medicated powders intended for application into body cavities such as the nose, throat, ears, or vagina.

Geometric dilution

A blending technique used to uniformly incorporate a small amount of potent substance into a large volume of powder diluent.

Granules

Dosage forms prepared by agglomerating moistened powder blends, drying them, and grinding them into coarse pieces that offer superior flow and wetting properties compared to powders.

Titanium dioxide

An excipient added to capsule shell formulations to make them opaque.

Tablet lubricant

An excipient that prevents tablet formulations from adhering to punches and dies, reduces friction during compression, and imparts a sheen to the tablet.

Tablet glidant

An excipient used to promote and improve the flowability of granulation or powder mixtures into the tablet press die.

Enteric coating

A polymeric barrier coating applied to oral solid dosage forms that resists dissolution in acidic gastric fluids and releases the drug in the intestine.

Microencapsulation

A manufacturing technology by which solid, liquid, or gas particles are enveloped in microscopic-sized polymeric shells or walls.

Repeat-action tablet

A modified-release tablet formulated with an immediate-release dose in an outer coating and a second, delayed dose contained within an inner core.

Transdermal Drug Delivery System (TDDS)

Skin patches that deliver therapeutic quantities of medication percutaneously into the systemic circulation at a controlled rate, bypassing first-pass hepatic metabolism.

Oleaginous base

A greasy, occlusive, and non-water-washable ointment base, such as petrolatum or yellow ointment, derived from hydrocarbons.

Paste

A semisolid preparation containing a high proportion of insoluble solids, making it stiffer, less greasy, and more absorptive of serous discharges than typical ointments.

Poultice (Cataplasm)

A soft, moist, viscous preparation intended to be applied warm to the skin, typically using a cloth, to relieve pain or inflammation.

Bougie

A slender, pencil-shaped suppository designed specifically for urethral insertion.

Cocoa butter (Theobroma oil)

A fat suppository base that is solid at room temperature and melts rapidly at body temperature ($30\text{ to }36\text{ }^\bullet\text{C}$).

Maceration

An extraction method where a comminuted crude drug is steeped in a solvent menstruum until its cells soften and soluble substances dissolve.

Spirit

An alcoholic or hydroalcoholic solution containing volatile medicinal or aromatic substances.

Collodion

A clear, viscous solution of pyroxylin dissolved in a mixture of ethyl ether and ethanol.

Flexible collodion

A waterproof protective preparation composed of collodion modified with $2\%$ camphor and $3\%$ castor oil to improve elasticity.

Simple Syrup (Syrup, NF)

A concentrated aqueous solution containing $85\text{ g}$ of sucrose dissolved in purified water to make $100\text{ mL}$, having a specific gravity of $1.313$.

Elixir

A clear, sweetened, pleasantly flavored hydroalcoholic liquid formulation designed for oral medication delivery.

Tincture

An alcoholic or hydroalcoholic solution extracted from plant substances or prepared from chemical ingredients.

Fluidextract

A liquid extract of a vegetable drug prepared with alcohol, formulated so that $1\text{ mL}$ represents the therapeutic constituents of $1\text{ g}$ of standard drug ($100\%$ tincture equivalent).

Xerogel

A dry, solid structure that remains after the liquid vehicle is removed from a gel framework.

Imbibition

The absorption of a certain volume of liquid by a gel or polymeric network without causing a measurable increase in total volume.

Syneresis

The spontaneous shrinkage of a gel caused by the expulsion or squeezing out of the liquid dispersion medium in droplets.

Thixotropy

A reversible, isothermal transformation of a formulation from a gel to a fluid sol upon agitation, which reverts to a gel when left at rest.

Continental method

The dry gum emulsion preparation technique in which oil and gum are mixed first in a $4:2:1$ ratio (oil:water:gum) before adding water to form the primary nucleus.

English method

The wet gum emulsion preparation technique in which water and gum are triturated to form a mucilage before the oil is added gradually in a $4:2:1$ ratio.

Hydrophilic-Lipophilic Balance (HLB)

An empirical scale ranging from $1\text{ to }20$ used to evaluate and classify surfactants, where values between $8\text{ and }18$ represent oil-in-water (O/W) emulsifying agents.

Aerosol propellant

A liquefied or compressed gas in an aerosol container responsible for developing the required internal pressure to expel the active drug product when the valve is opened.

Irrigation solution

A large-volume, sterile, pyrogen-free aqueous solution designed to bathe or flush body tissues, wounds, or surgical sites.

Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL) test

An in vitro diagnostic assay utilizing blood extract from horseshoe crabs to detect bacterial endotoxins and pyrogens in parenteral products.

Steam sterilization

A thermal sterilization method utilizing moist heat under pressure in an autoclave, capable of destroying all viable vegetative forms, viruses, and bacterial spores.

Gas sterilization

A non-thermal sterilization process employing gases such as ethylene oxide, commonly used for heat-sensitive and moisture-sensitive surgical supplies, syringes, and catheters.

Inhalant

A drug or drug combination with high vapor pressure capable of being carried by an air current into the nasal tract to produce a therapeutic response.