Influence of the Infill Geometry of 3D-Printed Tablets on Drug Dissolution

Abstract

Patient-centric therapy is especially important in pediatrics and may be attained by three-dimensional printing. Filaments containing 30% w/w of theophylline were produced by hot-melt extrusion and printed using fused deposition modelling to produce tablets. Here, preliminary results evaluating the effect of infill geometry (cross, star, grid) on drug content and release are reported.

Status of Polymer Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)-Based Three-Dimensional Printing (3DP) in the Pharmaceutical Industry

“…In this light, HME is favored for obtaining drug-loaded filaments, which are used as starting materials for the 3D printing of tablets and other dosage forms [50]. The use of HME to produce filaments with defined shapes and properties is crucial for the success of 3D printing in pharmaceutical applications [51]. The continuous and cost-efficient nature of HME makes it an attractive manufacturing process for drug-delivery systems [52].…”

“…ASDs may be defined as a solid dispersion that involves the melting of a solid mixture of API and a suitable vehicle, usually polymers that form eutectic mixtures [51,65]. The polymer or "solvent", interferes with the ordered arrangement of the crystalline API and thereby transforms the mixture into an amorphous solution [51,52,65,66].…”

“…ASDs may be defined as a solid dispersion that involves the melting of a solid mixture of API and a suitable vehicle, usually polymers that form eutectic mixtures [51,65]. The polymer or "solvent", interferes with the ordered arrangement of the crystalline API and thereby transforms the mixture into an amorphous solution [51,52,65,66]. The use of FDM in conjunction with ASDs of APIs with low solubility has shown that 3D-printed tablets derived as such show considerable improvement in the solubility of the API [67].…”

Geometry in Pharmaceutical Systems

“…; Fernandes, A.I. [14] discusses the importance of Patient-centric therapy in pediatrics. Filaments containing 30% w/w of theophylline were produced by hot-meltextrusion and printed using fused deposition modelling to produce tablets.…”