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US 11,340,014 B2Granted
Freeze-drying methods and related products
AssigneesMassachusetts Institute of Technology, Politecnico Di Torino
InventorsBernhardt Levy Trout, Roberto Pisano, Luigi Carlo Capozzi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The disclosure in some aspects relates to systems and related methods for the continuous freeze-drying of materials (e.g., pharmaceuticals) with high speed and control.
Claims16
A system for processing a composition, the system comprising:
- a plurality of modules arranged to promote step-wise freezing and drying of a composition, the plurality of modules comprising:
- a conditioning module;
- a freezing module;
- and
- a drying module;
- and
- a conveyer system configured to move a vessel configured to contain the composition through the plurality of modules, wherein the conditioning module is configured to bring the composition to a conditioning temperature prior to freezing, and
- wherein the vessel comprises a housing defining a boundary between an exterior surrounding of the vessel and an interior space configured to contain the composition, and wherein, when present in a module of the plurality of modules, the vessel is arranged to promote heat transfer between the exterior surrounding and the interior space across an entire portion of the housing contactable with the composition in the interior space when the composition is present in the interior space.
5 more elements
A method for processing a composition, the method comprising:
- moving a plurality of vessels along a common path through each module of a plurality of modules arranged to promote step-wise freezing and drying of the composition, wherein each vessel is configured to contain the composition, wherein each vessel comprises a housing defining a boundary between an exterior surrounding of the vessel and an interior space configured to contain the composition, and wherein the plurality of modules comprises a conditioning module, a freezing module, and a drying module;
- and
- cooling the composition in each vessel to a conditioning temperature in the conditioning module prior to freezing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.