Abstract: A strong pressure and a strong shearing force are exerted to a mixture, constituted of two kinds or more of powder materials including a drug powder, while causing the mixture to pass between a press section (26) of a press head (24) and a receiving surface (25) of a cylindrical rotator (23), thereby combining the drug powder with the other powder material. For example, at least one of a drug and a biocompatible polymer is made into a nano particle whose average particle diameter is less than 1000 nm, and the nano particle is made into a composite in accordance with a dry mechanical particle combining method, so as to form a polymer nano composite particle. Thus, it is possible to produce a composite particle, which contains a drug under a stable condition, in a short time, and it is possible to remarkably improve its handling property without losing advantages of the nano particle.

Abstract: A strong pressure and a strong shearing force are exerted to a mixture, constituted of two kinds or more of powder materials including a drug powder, while causing the mixture to pass between a press section (26) of a press head (24) and a receiving surface (25) of a cylindrical rotator (23), thereby combining the drug powder with the other powder material. For example, at least one of a drug and a biocompatible polymer is made into a nano particle whose average particle diameter is less than 1000 nm, and the nano particle is made into a composite in accordance with a dry mechanical particle combining method, so as to form a polymer nano composite particle. Thus, it is possible to produce a composite particle, which contains a drug under a stable condition, in a short time, and it is possible to remarkably improve its handling property without losing advantages of the nano particle.

Abstract: By the side of a powdery or granular material stacked in a conical pile on a horizontal surface, a sensor that emits sensor light and, by receiving light reflected from a spot illuminated by the sensor light, detects the distance to the pile of the powdery or granular material is placed with the optical axis of the sensor light horizontal. While the sensor is moved in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the sensor light, the distance to each of a plurality of measurement points arranged horizontally at regular intervals along a line that runs on said pile of the powdery or granular material so as to face the movement path of the sensor. This step is performed every time the sensor is moved vertically a predetermined distance at a time. In each session of the step, a point is extracted that is closest to the sensor, and a function describing a straight line approximating the curve through all of the thus extracted points is determined by the least-squares method.