Corona: Vaccine Bottle Manufacturers Under Pressure?

Combating the Covid-19 pandemic is at the top of the global agenda. Providing vaccines to populations around the globe means providing around 8 billion doses—with only one for every person in the world. In addition to the availability of the vaccine, a decisive factor in the race against time is the accessibility of the glass vials. To ensure that the mass vaccination against the coronavirus does not fail because of the container, the producers of the vials are massively ramping up their production so as not to become the proverbial bottleneck in the supply chain.

However, medical-grade vaccine vials are not standard glass tubes. Whether rolled-rim bottles, threaded bottles or ampoules, they are all made of the special glass borosilicate and require customized production lines. For example, the glass must be resistant to a wide range of chemicals and temperature changes and must not contaminate medicines. Any interaction between the container and the liquid inside must be prevented, as any chemical interference could affect the vaccine. Even the smallest scratch, crack or fissure can render an entire batch unusable, contaminate the line during the filling process or even lead to a machine standstill.

The demands on manufacturers are enormous: it is not only a matter of producing large quantities quickly but also of maintaining particularly high-quality standards. Industrial cameras from IDS Imaging Development Systems GmbH in Germany are currently becoming key components in demand. In an intelligent multi-camera system for the quality control of vaccine bottles from Isotronic GmbH, they take care of the image acquisition.

Application

Vaccine vials usually hold between 2 and 100 ml of liquid. They are on average 45-mm high and 11.5-mm wide. Manufacturers use borosilicate glass for this purpose to keep the vaccines in the required stable condition during storage and transport—even at extreme temperatures. The small containers for the precious cans are subject to high-quality requirements. At the same time, large quantities currently have to be produced in the shortest possible time. What is needed is very fast quality control with high reliability in defect detection—how can that work?

When increasing production capacities, efficient solutions that can be integrated quickly are in demand. The "VialChecker" developed by Isotronic meets this growing demand exactly. "Our system enables high-speed processing and is usually used at several points in the production line," explains Gregor Fabritius, Managing Director at Isotronic. The system works with up to eight cameras per unit, the camera models vary depending on the requirements of the respective control task.

For example, they observe the laterally rotating tube glass or the glass bottom and provide high-resolution images. "The IDS cameras capture at least 20 images per rotation, allowing up to 120 vials per minute to be inspected for dimensional accuracy or surface condition with very high precision," emphasizes Valentin Mayer-Eichberger, Chief Operating Officer at Isotronic. Accuracy is up to 0.01 millimeters for dimensional testing. Defects such as cracks, scratches, chips, inclusions or stains, on the other hand, are detected with an accuracy of 0.1 square millimeters thanks to the powerful cameras. Intelligent software enables accurate fault description analysis and classification.

Testing takes place at various points in the manufacturing process, such as directly after the bottles have been formed or shortly before packaging. A system usually supports between three and eight cameras, so that different measuring stations can be integrated along the production line. "Depending on customer requirements, the system is specified or supplemented with appropriate sensors or cameras, for example, to measure glass thickness," explains Valentin Mayer-Eichberger, Chief Operating Officer at Isotronic. "If more than eight cameras are needed, several computers are sent into action."