A Recent Review On 3D-Printing: Scope and Challenges with Special Focus on Pharmaceutical Field

Abstract

Background: The presentation of 3D printing in drug innovation especially focuses on the advancement of patient-centered dosage forms based on the structural design. Rising interest for customization of 3D printed inserts during surgeries combined with developing R&D speculations is driving the medical services. 3D printing technique is considered emerging digitized technology and it is beneficial for the future progression and development of customized dosage forms, prostheses, implantable medical devices, tissue making, disease modeling, and many more. 3D Printing technology has numerous benefits, such as minimum waste production, freedom of design, and the ability to make complex structures as well as rapid prototyping.

Methods: Various 3D printing techniques are utilized (such as drop on solid deposition, selective laser sintering/ melting, drop on drop deposition, stereolithography, fused deposition modeling, and pressure-assisted techniques) for the preparation of various pharmaceuticals, such as tablets, films, oral films, mouth guards, pellets, polyprintlets, catheters, etc. Results: With the help of various 3D printing techniques, researchers minimize dose frequency and side effects of drugs with the formation of multilayer tablets or polypills and benefit the person who is suffering from various diseases at a particular time. For example, multilayer polypills containing paracetamol, caffeine, naproxen, chloramphenicol, prednisolone, and aspirin. This study, most importantly, demonstrated the possibility of 3D printing for making diverse polypills to advance patient personalization with the help of the 3D printing technique.

Conclusion: The authors hope this article will give a valuable boost to energize future researchers in the pharmaceutical field. Due to the novelty and particular highlights, 3D printing has the inborn ability to settle numerous formulation and medication conveyance challenges, which are often connected with poorly aqueous solubility. It has many unmet regulatory challenges that need to be addressed.

Keywords: 3D printing; 3D printing CAD software; challenges; drug delivery; pharmaceutical; polymers; regulatory issue; slicing software.