Rheology In Pharmaceutical Sciences

Rheology is the science of flow and deformation of matter. Particularly gels and non-Newtonian fluids, which exhibit complex flow behavior, are frequently encountered in pharmaceutical engineering and manufacturing, or when dealing with various in vivo fluids. Therefore understanding rheology is important, and the ability to use rheological characterization tools is of great importance for any pharmaceutical scientist involved in the field. Flow can be generated by shear or extensional deformations, or a combination of both. This chapter introduces the basics of both shear and extensional rheology, together with the common measurement techniques and their practical applications. Examples of the use of rheological techniques in the pharmaceutical field, as well as other closely related fields such as food and polymer science, are also given.