AAPS PharmSciTech publishes mini-review on 3D printing processes.
Additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, may be the future of personalized medicine. The mini-review Pharmaceutical Additive Manufacturing: a Novel Tool for Complex and Personalized Drug Delivery Systems, recently published in AAPS PharmSciTech, provides an overview of the AM process stages and details about advanced AM technologies.
While different products will require different processes, most current AM can be divided into three stages: modeling, building/printing, and finishing. To prepare for 3D printing, “[one] of the most important steps in pharmaceutical AM is a deconstruction of the OBJ or STL file into a layer structure in a ‘G-code’ file, which can be recognized by the specific 3D printing system,” note the authors. This step is referred to as “slicing.” The authors further note that AM products may behave differently than standard material specifications, and some researchers are developing 4D products that change with time.
Additionally, “AM can produce personalized dosages inexpensively without the need for [complicated] downstream processes,” explain the authors. Figure 1 shows how AM is more efficient and thus more economical.
This article describes many AM techniques, including pressure-assisted microsyringes printing, multiphase jet solidification, precision extrusion deposition, powder-based systems, resin-based 3D printing, and more.
Since many AM platforms were created for application in other industries, pharmaceutical scientists still face significant challenges to ensure the final products meet and maintain their needed properties. The future of AM and 3D printing is immense: “This potential to develop personalized medicine is a revolutionary change in compounding the dosage forms with tailored doses, especially for drugs with narrow therapeutic ranges.”
Read the full article in AAPS PharmSciTech to learn about AM and 3D-printing techniques for personalized therapies.
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