Have you ever thought about the possibility of 3D printing medicines? An amazing new studio, recently published in Additive Manufacturing magazine seems to confirm this hypothesis.
Apparently, 3D printers are capable of producing certain types of drugs. Indeed, the time needed to produce it is just 7 seconds per drug (and up to a maximum of 17 seconds) based on the results reported by a research team led by the University of California.
Research teams have begun experimenting with the production of printed medicines starting from paracetamol, one of the most commonly used. They loaded the printlets (printed tables) and operated the printers. In order for the machine to be able to make a drug (a very small element) it was decided to use the technique of photopolymerization in the tank.
This specific technique does not require high heat and, consequently, also allows the production of "microscale" objects.
In the production phase the drug is dissolved in a solution of a photoreactive chemical substance. Activated by light, the substance solidifies and turns into a "printed tablet".
Good morning, print me these medicines
The scientists made small changes compared to “typical” vat-curing printing. Usually, in fact, the technique is quite slow, because it prints layer after layer. Researchers halved the time by relying on a single production layer, obtaining complete medicines in just 7 seconds (17 in the most complex cases). 3D printing will do wonders.
All this is possible thanks to an innovative light regulation process. The latter is irradiated on the photoreactive solution starting from different angles, increasing its action potential. All points of the 3D object reach the solidification threshold at the same time, leading to the immediate creation of printed medicines.
Professor Abdul Basit (UCL School of Pharmacy) is the project lead. Together with him, researchers from the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela and FabRx also work on the production of the medicines.
“3D printed personalized medicines are evolving at a rapid pace and reaching the clinic. To adapt to the fast-paced clinical environment, we have developed a 3D printer that produces tablets in seconds. This technology could be a game changer for the pharmaceutical industry."
Alvaro Goyanes, co-author of the research
