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Apr 18, 2016 | By Tess

As we well know, 3D printing technologies have been making a big impact on the medical industry in many ways, from 3D printing surgical guides, to 3D printing implants, and even to 3D printing medication. The latter, which consists of additively manufacturing pills and other targeted medication vessels, is a quickly growing area of research which could greatly influence the making of specifically dosed and more effective medications. In the last year, 3D printed liquid pills have been made to make swallowing pills easier for children, the FDA approved the first 3D printed prescription drug (a dissolvable tablet to treat seizures), and a team of researchers developed a system to personalize dosages through 3D printed medication.

Now, thanks to a recent study conducted by researchers from the University College London’s School of Pharmacy, the potentials of 3D printed pills are even greater as the researchers have shown the possibility of fabricating oral tablets by stereolithography (SLA) technology using a commercial SLA 3D printer.

4-ASA 3D printed tablet (left) and paracetamol 3D printed tablet (right).

The recently published study, entitled “Stereolithographic (SLA) 3D printing of oral modified-release dosage forms”, was written by Jie Wang, Alvaro Goyanes, Simon Gaisford, and Abdul W. Basit, and shows the potentials and suitability of using SLA 3D printing technology to manufacture “drug-loaded tablets”.

For those unfamiliar with the technology, stereolithography or SLA 3D printing is the process in which a liquid resin material is solidified, layer by layer, by a photopolymerization process, in the shape and design of a digital 3D model. Typically, the process of using a laser to create the 3D printed object out of the liquid resin has proved superior to other 3D printing technologies, such as fused deposition modeling or FDM 3D printing, because of its higher resolution capabilities.

In the study, the researchers used paracetamol (or acetaminophen) and 4-aminosalicylic acid (or 4-ASA) as model drugs, which they added to a solution of monomers to create a 3D printable photopolymer solution. From there, the medically loaded photopolymers were fed into a commercial SLA 3D printer, Formlab’s popular Form 1+ machine.

For the design of the tablets, the research team chose a torus shape (resembling a donut) to show the unique capabilities of additive manufacturing technologies over other pills production methods such as powder compaction.

In the end, and after testing many different formulations, the torus shaped tablets loaded with either paracetamol or 4-ASA were successfully 3D printed. The researchers, who had previously tried a similar process with FDM 3D printing technologies, found that using SLA 3D printing resulted in less drug degradation. Whereas in a previous study, almost 50% of the 4-ASA was degraded during the FDM additive manufacturing process, virtually no degradation occurred using the Form 1+ 3D printer.

As the study explains, SLA 3D printing processes offered them a wider range of options, allowing them to easily mix the drugs with photopolymer solutions before the printing process,  which also allowed them to keep the drugs contained with the “solidified matrices” thus reducing degradation.

To determine the dissolution qualities of the 3D printed tablets, the researchers used an in vitro test, which showed that the tablet began to dissolve and the drug began to be released in the gastric phase, continuing to the intestinal phase. According to the study, the 3D printed tablets made using SLA 3D printing technology could also have the potential to be designed with specific extended release profiles, meaning that it could also further advance the customization of medical dosages and prove the viability of 3D printed oral tablets.

 

 

Posted in 3D Printing Technology

 

 

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