Intelligent Columns for Synthesis and Separation

Industrial Tomography Systems Ltd (ITS) is a designer and manufacturer of sophisticated instrumentation providing major insight into process operations. Our products are sold in global markets with future potential for Industry-4.0\. In this project, we aim to combine our Artificial Intelligent (AI) knowledge, with our state-of-the-art electrical impedance tomography technology (EIT), to tackle the industrial challenges in the pharmaceutical market, where our innovation promises major enhancements in product quality and efficiency with reduced manufacturing cost.

This project targets the globally common 'packed column' process in which reagents react to form a final or intermediate product. The packed column is a widely used technique for chemicals separation, protein synthesis and protein purification, which are fundamentally key processes for drug and vaccine developments. Significant chemical waste is produced during the column process and it is a prime candidate for efficiency and cost reduction improvements.

ITS is proposing to use an innovative electrical impedance tomography (EIT) technique, in combination with our AI knowledge, to accurately monitor the column process in real-time. EIT is a non-intrusive technique that scans and reconstruct a process into real-time images, which allow users to 'see inside their processes' without any reaction disturbance. In this project, AI will be combined with EIT technology to 'make it smarter'. At the end of the project, we will have a 'Smart Column System' that can correctly diagnose the column conditions, and at the same time provide real-time process information, without any extra input from the end-users. This will give the end-user and manufacturer considerable benefit in designing an efficient column process, by increasing productivity, and at the same time, extending the life-cycle of the column material, thus reducing manufacturing costs in the pharmaceutical industries.