3D Printing Factors Important for the Fabrication of Polyvinylalcohol Filament-Based Tablets

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) printers have been applied in many fields, including engineering and the medical sciences. In the pharmaceutical field, approval of the first 3D-printed tablet by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2015 has attracted interest in the manufacture of tablets and drugs by 3D printing techniques as a means of delivering tailor-made drugs in the future. In current study, polyvinylalcohol (PVA)-based tablets were prepared using a fused-deposition-modeling-type 3D printer and the effect of 3D printing conditions on tablet production was investigated. Curcumin, a model drug/fluorescent marker, was loaded into PVA-filament. We found that several printing parameters, such as the rate of extruding PVA (flow rate), can affect the formability of the resulting PVA-tablets. The 3D-printing temperature is controlled by heating the print nozzle and was shown to affect the color of the tablets and their curcumin content. PVA-based infilled tablets with different densities were prepared by changing the fill density as a printing parameter. Tablets with lower fill density floated in an aqueous solution and their curcumin content tended to dissolve faster. These findings will be useful in developing drug-loaded PVA-based 3D objects and other polymerbased articles prepared using fused-deposition-modeling-type 3D printers. Key words three-dimensional (3D) printing; fused deposition modeling; polyvinylalcohol (PVA); tablet; curcuminThe production of various objects by three-dimensional (3D) printers has developed extensively as the printers have evolved.1,2) 3D printers are used by the creator to rapidly design prototype parts and can thus considerably cut production times and costs. 3D printers have been used to manufacture parts for cars, home electronic devices, aircraft engines, buildings, and for other practical uses. It is speculated that 3D printers have potential for many applications and that the 3D printer market will expand.The medical applications of 3D printers have been expanding and bringing innovation to the field.3) For example, the 3D printing of organs and body parts is used to provide blueprints 4) for surgeons and patients to understand disease sites.5-7) In addition, bioprinting, which involves the placement of cells, proteins and genes on a substrate, is also being conducted in the anticipation of future applications in tissue engineering.8,9) Future artificial organs and implantable devices are also being designed. 10,11) In the pharmaceutical industry, a new tablet (SPRITAM ® , a rapid disintegrating tablet containing levetiracetam) prepared by 3D printing was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2015.12) The application of 3D printing in medicine, including tablets, holds promise for made-to-order drugs and removes mass product manufacturing from the production line, although the technology in pharmaceutical industry is still in infancy.13) Moreover, it is predicted that the internet of things (IoT) will increase the future use of 3D printers by reinforcing man...

Development of 3D Printed Tablets by Fused Deposition Modeling Using Polyvinyl Alcohol as Polymeric Matrix for Rapid Drug Release

“…Many investigators altogether avoided the melt extrusion step by using commercially available PVA filaments, where drugs were loaded into filaments by solvent diffusion, that is, by soaking filaments in drug solutions in organic solvents, followed by drying to remove solvent, before the printing of drug-loaded filaments into tablets. 10,17,25,30,31 Because drugs were loaded by soaking PVA filaments in solvents (solvent diffusion), the drugs remained molecularly dispersed in the filaments. However, only very low drug contents in the filaments, ranging from 0.6% to 1.9% depending on properties of drugs, could be achieved by this method.…”

‘Temporary Plasticiser’: A novel solution to fabricate 3D printed patient-centred cardiovascular ‘Polypill’ architectures

“…Fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printing has therefore been proposed as an alternative method for 3D printing of tablets [16,17] and medical devices [18]. The method allows the fabrication of immediate [19][20][21], delayed [22,23], extended release tablets [24][25][26][27][28] as well as for dual drug delivery systems [29][30][31]. The technology offers several advantages such as the lower cost, absence of finishing step, small place requirement and obviation for material recycling [13,32].…”

Current formulation approaches in design and development of solid oral dosage forms through three-dimensional printing

“…8). Tuning the infill percentage has been explored to assess its impact on drug release and mechanical properties of tablets [41][42][43].…”