ABSTRACT
Thermal analysis techniques, in which a physical property is monitored as a function of temperature or time while the analyte is heated or cooled under controlled conditions, are fundamental techniques for the characterization of drugs and drug products, not only while processing or aging conditions may be simulated but while the methods gives access to thermodynamic data. Newly born, the scanning thermal microscopy derived from atomic force microscopy brings a revolution in the instrumentation for measuring thermophysical and thermomechanical properties of the matter, and the TA instrument was awarded at Pittsburg 1998. The transitions observed by thermal analysis techniques are based upon the Gibbs phase rule and phase diagrams, pressure, temperature, concentration. K. Bystro developed a technique in order to determine the crystallinity of drug substances by isothermal microcalorimetry. Microcalorimetry is a growing technique complementary to differential scanning calorimetry for the characterization of pharmaceuticals.
