The pharmaceutical industry uses routine drug dissolution testing to provide critical in vitro drug release information for quality control purposes and to optimise the amount of drug available to the body. These tests are done 'in-vitro' and are now rigorously and comprehensively defined in the respective Pharmacopoeia.

For the test, dissolution vessels which are put into a water bath are used. All vessels should not only meet the physical dimensions but have a hemispherical bottom which means that they should be perfectly rounded with no obvious join with the sides and no 'bumps' of glass on the inside. Wall thicknesses should be even and reproducible.

Dissolution Tests are rigorously and comprehensively defined in the respective Pharmacopoeia

The reproducibility of the dissolution is important

The reproducibility depends much on the tolerances of the vessels used

In order to prevent the tested tablets or capsules to swim to the surface in the dissolving process, they are placed in baskets or spiral sinkers. Which type of basket or sinker is used depends on the type and size of the tablet or capsule. The sinker should ideally not touch the tablet as this can effect the dissolution rate.

Baskets and basket shafts should be serialised where possible and the serial number noted for each test.