3D Printing for Personalized and On-Demand Drug Delivery: The Next Frontier in Pharmaceutics

Abstract

There has been a change in the pharmaceutical industry as a result of the introduction of three-dimensional (3D) printing technology, which has made it feasible to manufacture oral dosage forms that are both complex and customizable. Powder bed printing and fused deposition modeling (FDM) are two of the most notable practices that have been investigated for the purpose of enhancing the precision and effectiveness of the distribution of medicine. In spite of the fact that FDM-printed oral dosage forms are often robust and won't break easily, the use of thermoplastic polymer matrices makes it challenging to ensure rapid drug release. Within the scope of this work, we evaluated the feasibility of developing fast-dissolving oral dosage forms for FDM by mixing a formulation based on poly(vinyl alcohol) with sugar alcohol. It was a successful method to print sugar alcohol-containing filaments into oral dosage forms with a shape that was defined. Research conducted on the rate of medication release revealed that a dosage form in the shape of a ring that contains 55% maltitol has the potential to release more than 85 percent of the drug in less than 15 minutes. Dogs that were subjected to in vivo testing demonstrated oral absorption that was comparable to that of conventional tablets that dissolve quickly inside the mouth. With the use of 3D computer-aided design (CAD), it is possible to fine-tune the dose and medication release profile via geometric change. This is very beneficial. When it comes to the creation of pharmaceutical dosage forms, 3D printing is becoming an increasingly essential technology, and our findings demonstrate that it has the potential to enhance individualized therapy.