3D DRUG PRINTING- A SWING FROM LABORATORY PRODUCTION TO COMPUTERIZED PRODUCTION
Abstract
Three-Dimensional (3D) printing is a process where objects are made in successive layers under computer control by fusing or depositing materials. The objects can be of nearly any shape or geometry and come in a computer-aided (CAD) design from 3D model. Since 3D printing began in 1984, it has changed enormously and has been used in a wide range of fields, including medicine and architecture. 3D printing moves rapidly and in future will transform and change the way we live and work from laboratory-based organs to pharmaceutical supplies.
3D printing in pharmaceuticals has been used to produce many novel dosage forms like microcapsules, complex drug-release profiles, nanosuspensions, and multilayered drug delivery devices. It also offers important advantages from the industrial point of view such as cost-efficiency, higher productivity, democracy-making and enhanced cooperation.
Keeping in view the recent approval given by USFDA to many drug the focus has now shifted to the personalized medicine as it offers an important benefit to patients who need medications that have narrow therapeutic index or a higher predilection to be influenced by genetic polymorphisms. 3D printer is now seen as a valuable, efficient and economical tool to manufacture individualized medications, tailored to specific patients based on their needs and thereby change the future of pharmacy practice in general and pharmaceutical care in particular.
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