Advantest Corp : Advantest Launches Terahertz Spectroscopic Imaging System TAS7500

(MY NOTE: THE PICTURE ABOVE IS OF THE TAS7000) TOKYO, Japan, September 1, 2011 - Advantest Corporation (TSE: 6857, NYSE: ATE) today announced that it has developed a new desktop spectroscopic and imaging system for the pharmaceutical R&D market, the TAS7500, which utilizes terahertz waves (*1) to perform non-destructive sample analysis.The TAS7500 relies on a proprietary method developed by Advantest to achieve rapid, non-destructive imaging and analysis of pharmaceutical samples in the liquid or solid state. Crystalline qualities, the characteristics of constituents, and even the thickness, density, and internal structure of pill coating - formerly impossible to analyze non-destructively - may be analyzed and visually rendered in two or three dimensions. The system offers lower costs and higher efficiency at all stages of drug development from lab research to process scale-up. According to Advantest, the TAS7500 is poised to contribute to the new approach to pharmaceutical R&D, which is based on intelligent risk management, and incorporates the ICH (*2) guidelines that are being adopted by an increasing number of firms. Advantest will exhibit the TAS7500 at the 49th JAIMA EXPO 2011 / 34th SIS 2011 (*3), scheduled to take place on September 7th, Wednesday through September 9th, Friday 2011 at Makuhari Messe, near Tokyo.

	(*1)		The terahertz frequency range spans 0.1 - 99THz on the electromagnetic spectrum.
	(*2)		ICH: The International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH), an international advisory group.
	(*3)		JAIMA: the Japan Analytical Instruments Manufacturers Association.SIS: Japan Federation of Scientific Instrument Associations.

Terahertz Spectroscopic Imaging System TAS7500

From product development to process scale-up, the TAS7500 drives efficiency gains in drug R&D The development of new pharmaceutical products is a lengthy, expensive process made more difficult by gaps in analysis technology. Researchers currently must spend a great deal of time analyzing products with existing technologies, while they are forced to compromise on quality where no technology exists to serve their needs. The TAS7500 addresses these quandaries with a new imaging and analysis technology utilizing the unique qualities of terahertz waves to perform non-destructive imaging. For the first time, drug developers can rapidly analyze crystalline properties, density and other qualities, and evaluate the internal structure and coating of pills, creating significant efficiency gains. The TAS7500 is also perfectly suited to form part of a PAT (process analytical technology) toolkit, moving smoothly from the R&D lab to the manufacturing floor, with its unique ability to monitor quality metrics such as constituent and moisture content. Features of the TAS7500 Non-destructive imaging and analysis of pill/tablet coating and internal structure Pharmaceutical tablet development presents unique quality control demands, ranging from dissolution rate control, taste masking and shelf life issues. The TAS7500 provides a solution capable of non-destructively analyzing the thickness and density of pills/tablets with external coatings and complex internal structures, and presenting results as 2D or 3D visualizations. Operation is automatic, with users required to set just a few simple parameters, and a maximum analysis capacity of 10 pills or tablets at one time. The new system's functionality contributes to a product development process designed to put quality first. Spectroscopic analysis the method best suited to pharmaceutical applications The terahertz technology powering the TAS7500 is capable of acquiring fingerprint spectra based on molecular interactions in the terahertz frequency range, making the system ideally suited to rapid evaluation of the crystalline properties of drugs, which have grown progressively more complex in recent years. Three different measurement modes - transmission, reflection, and attenuated total reflectance - are available by one-touch module exchange, enabling the system to analyze the physical and spectral characteristics of drugs in any form from liquid to solids, pills, and tablets. The design of the TAS7500 emphasizes ease of operation and allows for rapid set-up. Compact Tabletop size, advanced functionality The TAS7500 houses Advantest's proprietary terahertz wave high-performance optical sampling technology, facilitating high measurement throughput, in a compact tabletop unit that can easily be installed wherever it is needed. Applications extend beyond pharmaceuticals to industrial, chemical arenas The applications of the TAS7500's terahertz spectroscopic imaging and analysis capabilities go beyond the pharmaceutical arena to the food, chemical, automotive, and other industries where the direct penetration and high transmission properties of terahertz radiation, and the TAS7500's ability to detect short pulse waves, can contribute to ground-breaking productivity gains. "We believe the TAS7500 can shine a new light, so to speak, on a broad range of industrial applications where its ability to analyze constituent materials and internal structures is greatly needed," said Haruo Matsuno, President and CEO of Advantest. The company is presently moving forward with diverse market development efforts targeting fields such as industrial processing and chemicals.