A Review Study on 3D Printing in Tablets

Abstract

The growing need for tablet production as a personalized dosage form led to the use of 3D printing for tablet production. In this technique, pills are printed to control the release rate with complex structures and to print the on-demand personalized dosage drugs formulations. Different steps involved in 3D printing start from model designing to 3D Printed tablets. Each technique has been discussed in the article along with its principle and examples. Material extrusion uses temperature or pressure to extrude tablet material. Vat polymerization, Material Jetting and Selective Laser Sintering use UV light and laser for 3D printing of tablets. In Binder jetting, the binder solution acts as an adhesive to form a tablet. For selecting the right kind of 3D printing technology, it is important to analyze the characteristic properties of each tablet using various methods, this includes their importance in tablet formulation. 3D printing of tablets includes some challenges which should be taken into consideration while preparing tablets. Challenges faced during 3D printing of tablets include powder agglomeration, incompatibility of the drug substance leading to structural imperfections in the final product, lack of constant and consistent flow, clogging of the 3D printer head in terms of powder-based 3D printing, concerns related to resin toxicity in case of Vat photopolymerization, thermal stability(SLS) and as current 3D printing technology is slow therefore mass production of tablet printing is a challenge.