BACTERIAL MONITORING IN VIALS USING A SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC ASSIMILATIONMETHOD

Aseptic-filling processes are often used with fragile parenteral produ cts that might be destroyed by terminal autoclaving. However, aseptic filling is not as effective as autoclaving in reducing contamination. As a result, time-consuming microbiological methods and turbidimetry a re employed currently as product inspection techniques, but these proc esses can destroy the product and might not detect low levels of conta mination. Thus, near-infrared (IR) light scattering was evaluated in t his study as a new method for determining low levels of contamination noninvasively and nondestructively. A new parallel mathematical techni que was used in conjunction with near-IR spectrophotometry to detect s uccessfully contamination by several species of bacteria through intac t glass vials. Using the near-IR method, products can be evaluated wit hout introducing contamination, preserving the sample vial for dispens ing or evaluation by another method.