Coherent Raman Scattering Imaging as a Quantitative Tool for Pharmacology

Coherent Raman scattering (CRS) microscopy provides a label-free means to visualize specific molecules and their effects in tissue, making these methods well suited for solving challenges in drug development. Our work combines CRS imaging with novel hyperspectral approaches, data science, and deep learning methods for the automated and quantitative analysis of drug products both in dosage formats and within tissue. These approaches have been validated and now tested on numerous drugs in a range of formulations, demonstrating how CRS imaging tools can reveal new, previously inaccessible pharmacokinetic information. We have worked closely with academia, regulatory, and industry collaborators to explore the many ways CRS can be applied in particular in the investigation of drug products.

In topical products, our research has focused on links the microscale information from CRS imaging to the macroscale measurements made in traditional pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies to understand drug flux and flow, the impact of structure and formulation on permeation, and how these parameters ultimately lead to drug efficacy. Further leveraging machine learning, we have developed methods to qualify topical product drug response, offering a path towards non-invasive assessment of both pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in human studies. Recent studies have additional explored the ability of CRS as a process analytical technology, which has exciting applications in drug development and formulation.