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It would be nice to have an objective, easy-to-use parameter to evaluate swallowability, but how much water is ingested doesn't seem to be the answer. The ultrasound might have furnished some interesting infor- mation, since people seem to orient the almond tablet while swallowing it. That insight could help in designing easier-to-swallow tablets. One more comment about the amount of water con- sumed: In clinical trials it is customary to ask volunteers and patients to swallow solid oral dosage forms with 240 milli- liters of water. In our study, however, the volunteers were provided with a glass containing only 100 milliliters of water. On average, the volunteers ingested just 39.6 milli- liters (standard deviation 23.5). And, of the study's 428 par- ticipants, only 22 consumed all 100 milliliters of the water, and 16 didn't drink any. This might support criticism of pre- scribing 240 milliliters of water in clinical trials. But it might also indicate that the study's results would have been more relevant if we had offered the volunteers a full 240-milliliter glass of water. Most investigations into swallowing have concentrated on dysphagia patients, which is a relatively small group. In the study described here, a normal population was exam- ined. In the future, it might be more productive to examine the "middle ground," i.e., people who are able to swallow tablets and capsules but dislike doing so. Finally, as described by Wan et al., the expectations of the target pop- ulation must be taken into account, too. T&C Figure 4 Round tablet versus almond-shaped tablet: How easy was it to swallow? Note: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 indicating "easy to swallow" and 10 "difficult to swallow" 40 30 20 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Relative frequency (%) Figure 5 Elongated tablet versus almond-shaped tablet: How easy was it to swallow? Note: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 indicating "easy to swallow" and 10 "difficult to swallow" 40 30 20 10 0 Elongated tablet 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Relative frequency (%) Almond-shaped tablet Round tablet Almond-shaped tablet 38 January 2016 Tablets & Capsules www.techceuticals.com Solid Dosage Training, Troubleshooting, and Problem Solving Since 1989 Operator & Supervisor Training Your facility or ours • Formulating • Granulating • Tabletting • Blending • Coating • Packaging Get RESULTS! Find past articles at www.tabletscapsules.com. Click on Article Archive. Need info? New subscriber?