Manufacturing technology
Pharmaceuticals have come a long way throughout history. These days, therapeutic agents can even be delivered at a controlled dosage after being embedded within implants. Abi Millar speaks to Paris Fouladian, a PhD scholar at the University of South Australia who is currently conducting research into delivering anti-cancer drugs via implant, about how 3D printing is changing the fi eld of drug delivery.
Deliver the goods I
nnovations in the world of 3D printing have already led to medicine becoming more personalised, with devices moving away from a one-size-fits-all model to a more custom approach. Examples like custom-made prosthetics for amputees or patient-specific anatomical models used within surgical training help to illuminate the change. Conventional methods of production here would be costly, labour-intensive and not especially viable. By contrast, 3D printing (also known as additive manufacturing) can cut costs, save time and open up a host of new applications for devices. Increasingly, the same applies within drug delivery. While 3D-printed pharmaceuticals are still a relatively new idea, many different research groups are exploring different applications for the technology. The promise is clear: freed from the constraints of traditional manufacturing, one might be able to create dosage forms or formulations tailored to individual patients. “Over the last decade, 3D printing has gained considerable attention in pharmaceutical
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formulations and drug delivery systems as an effective strategy to overcome the challenges of conventional manufacturing approaches,” says Paris Fouladian, a PhD scholar at the University of South Australia, who is exploring 3D printing within drug delivery systems. “Beyond rapid prototyping, 3D printing provides significant advantages, including the manufacture of personalised pharmacotherapy products based on the patient’s needs.” At the moment, pharmaceutical formulations are typically designed for a generic, everyman patient (read: a white adult male). This means they fail to capture the diversity of the actual patient population. Smaller patients may end up taking a higher dose of medication than they actually need, while larger patients may not take enough to feel the effects.
Through 3D printing, researchers hope to improve that dosing accuracy – and to reduce the waste and cost associated with personalised dosage forms. Pharmacists would be able to look
Medical Device Developments /
www.nsmedicaldevices.com
Elena Abrazhevich; whitehoune; solar22; Pikovit/
Shutterstock.com
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