Additive manufacturing in drug delivery applications: A review

The traditional healthcare method follows ‘one-size-fits-all’ criteria, which shows some limitations in rendering proper results due to varied pharmacokinetic traits of different patients. Each patient shows a different result to a set of prescribed medicines with respect to other patient. In addition, this empirical criterion is also vulnerable to develop unfavourable side-effects due to overdose or under-dose. The advancements in the field of pharmacogenetic testing has paved the way for searching solutions to achieve the goal of ‘personalized medicine’. This concept has the potential to provide more effective results as compared to the traditional technique. The technology of additive manufacturing or 3D printing can cater the need of the patient-centric principle. A wide range of 3D printing techniques provide the independence to work with a number of bio-materials. This paper carries out a systematic review methodology based on the application of this novel technology in the field of drug delivery. The materials, methods of drug administration, techniques used for printing have been elaborated along with the manufacturing of polypills with varied release profiles and geometries. Certain in vivo studies has also been reported to assess the feasibility of this technology. The concept of 4D printing in this direction has also been discussed. Finally, some excerpts on estimated future scope have also been illustrated.