Imagine chocolate-flavored pills for kids who dislike taking medicine.
Imagine a single daily pill containing multiple medications for elderly individuals who struggle to remember to take their drugs.
Picture drugs being printed at your nearby pharmacy, tailored to meet your specific health requirements.
These are just a few of the potential benefits of 3D drug printing, a novel approach to manufacturing medications and therapies on location at pharmacies, healthcare facilities, and other distant sites.
In 2015, the FDA approved Spritam (levetiracetam), the first 3D-printed drug, for treating epilepsy. Various other manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies are in the process of developing their own versions.
However, the broad adoption of 3D drug printing necessitates strict quality control measures to ensure that individuals receive the appropriate medication and dosage. A minor error in measuring a drug’s ingredients during the printing process could pose a risk to a patient’s health.
In a recent research study, NIST scientist Thomas P. Forbes examines different strategies to ensure the correct function of 3D drug printers. The research article uses a “quality by design” approach to ascertain the optimal procedures and guidelines for ensuring that 3D printers produce drugs at the accurate dosages and with the correct chemical composition.
While several methods for remotely printing drugs exist, Forbes concentrates on one of the most prevalent methods: inkjet printers and similar systems capable of printing tailored medications on demand.
Similar to household inkjet printers but on a larger scale, these printers utilize nozzles to dispense the drug’s dissolved materials or inks into small compartments on a platform or directly into capsules. By means of freeze-drying and other techniques, the liquid can be transformed into a tablet or powder for encapsulation. It can also be dried into a thin film that dissolves in the mouth.
Forbes’ paper does not propose specific recommendations. Instead, his research explores and tests various potential methods and approaches for upholding quality control in 3D drug printing.
