Roadmap to 3D printed oral pharmaceutical dosage forms: Feedstock filament properties and characterization for fused deposition modeling

J Aho, J P Bøtker, N Genina, M Edinger, L Arnfast, J Rantanen

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

110 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Application of additive manufacturing techniques (3D printing) for mass-customized products has boomed in the recent years. In pharmaceutical industry and research, the interest has grown particularly with the future scenario of more personalized medicinal products. Understanding a broad range of material properties and process behavior of the drug-excipient combinations is necessary for successful 3D printing of dosage forms. This commentary reviews recent 3D printing studies by fused deposition modeling (FDM) technique in pharmaceutical sciences, extending into the fields of polymer processing and rapid prototyping, where more in-depth studies on the feedstock material properties, modeling and simulation of the FDM process have been performed. A case study of a model oral dosage form from custom-prepared indomethacin-polycaprolactone feedstock filament was used as an example in the pharmaceutical context. The printability was assessed in the different process steps: preparation of customized filaments for FDM, filament feeding, deposition, and solidification. These were linked with the rheological, thermal, and mechanical properties and their characterization, relevant for understanding the printability of drug products by FDM.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Volume108
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)26–35
ISSN0022-3549
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2019

Cite this