Drop-on-demand printing of personalised orodispersible films fabricated by precision micro-dispensing

Unmet technological demands in orodispersible films for age-appropriate paediatric drug delivery

Age-appropriateness of a formulation is the ability to deliver variable but accurate doses to the paediatric population in a safe and acceptable manner to improve medical adherence and reduce medication errors. Paediatric drug delivery is a challenging area of formulation research due to the existing gap in knowledge. This includes the unknown safety of excipients in the paediatric population, the need for an age-appropriate formulation, the lack of an effective taste-masking method and the lack of paediatric pharmacokinetic data and patient acceptability. It is equally important to establish methods for predicting the biopharmaceutical performance of a paediatric formulation as a function of age. Overcoming the challenges of existing technologies and providing custom-made solutions for the development of age-appropriate formulation is, therefore, a daunting task. Orodispersible films (ODF) are promising as age-appropriate formulations, an unmet need in paediatric drug delivery. New technological improvements in taste masking, improving solubility and rate of dissolution of insoluble drugs, the flexibility of dosing and extemporaneous preparation of these films in a hospital good manufacturing practises (GMP) setup using 3D printing can increase its acceptance among clinicians, patients and caregivers. The current review discusses the problems and possibilities in ODF technology to address the outstanding issues of age-appropriateness, which is the hallmark of patient acceptance and medical adherence in paediatrics.

Inkjet Printing of Pharmaceuticals

Inkjet printing (IJP) is an additive manufacturing process that selectively deposits ink materials, layer-by-layer, to create 3D objects or 2D patterns with precise control over their structure and composition. This technology has emerged as an attractive and versatile approach to address the ever-evolving demands of personalized medicine in the healthcare industry. Although originally developed for nonhealthcare applications, IJP harnesses the potential of pharma-inks, which are meticulously formulated inks containing drugs and pharmaceutical excipients. Delving into the formulation and components of pharma-inks, the key to precise and adaptable material deposition enabled by IJP is unraveled. The review extends its focus to substrate materials, including paper, films, foams, lenses, and 3D-printed materials, showcasing their diverse advantages, while exploring a wide spectrum of therapeutic applications. Additionally, the potential benefits of hardware and software improvements, along with artificial intelligence integration, are discussed to enhance IJP's precision and efficiency. Embracing these advancements, IJP holds immense potential to reshape traditional medicine manufacturing processes, ushering in an era of medical precision. However, further exploration and optimization are needed to fully utilize IJP's healthcare capabilities. As researchers push the boundaries of IJP, the vision of patient-specific treatment is on the horizon of becoming a tangible reality.

Unraveling the influence of solvent composition on Drop-on-Demand binder jet 3D printed tablets containing calcium sulfate hemihydrate

Recently, binder jet printed modular tablets were loaded with three anti-viral drugs via Drop on Demand (DoD) technology where drug solutions prepared in ethanol showed faster release than those prepared in water. During printing, water is used as a binding agent, whereas ethanol is added to maintain the porous structure of the tablets. Thus, the hypothesis is that the porosity would be controlled by manipulating the percentage of water and ethanol. In this study, Rhodamine 6G (R6G) was selected as a model drug due to its high solubility in water and ethanol, visualization function as a fluorescent dye, and potential therapeutic effects for cancer treatment. Approximately, 10 mg/ml R6G solutions were prepared with five different water-ethanol ratios (0-100, 75-25, 50-50, 75-25, 100-0). The ink solutions were printed onto blank binder jet 3D-printed tablets containing calcium sulphate hemihydrate using DoD technology. The tablets were dried at room temperature and then characterized using SEM-EDX, fluorescent microscope, TGA, XRD, FTIR, and DSC as well as in vitro release studies to investigate the impact of water-ethanol ratio on the release profile of R6G. Results indicated that the solution with higher ethanol ratio penetrated the tablets faster than the lower ethanol ratio, while the solution prepared with pure water was first accumulated onto the tablets' surface and then absorbed by the tablets. Moreover, tablets with more water content gained more weight and thickness. The EDX analysis and fluorescent microscope showed the uniform surface distribution of the drug. The SEM images revealed the difference in the tablet surface among the five formulations. Furthermore, the TGA data presents a notable increase in water loss, with XRD analysis suggesting the formation of gypsum in tablets containing elevated water content. The release study exhibited that the fastest release was from WE0-100, whereas the release rate decreases as the content of water increases. The WE0-100 releases more than 40 % drug within the first hour which is almost twice as high of the WE100-0 formulation. This DoD technology could distribute drugs onto the tablet's surface uniformly. The calcium sulfate would transform from hemihydrate to dihydrate form in the presence of water and therefore, those tablets treated with higher water content led to slower release. In conclusion, this study underscores the substantial impact of the water-ethanol ratio on drug release from binder jet printed tablets and highlights the potential of DoD technology for uniform drug distribution and controlled release.

Hydrogel-Loaded Exosomes: A Promising Therapeutic Strategy for Musculoskeletal Disorders

Clinical treatment strategies for musculoskeletal disorders have been a hot research topic. Accumulating evidence suggests that hydrogels loaded with MSC-derived EVs show great potential in improving musculoskeletal injuries. The ideal hydrogels should be capable of promoting the development of new tissues and simulating the characteristics of target tissues, with the properties matching the cell-matrix constituents of autologous tissues. Although there have been numerous reports of hydrogels loaded with MSC-derived EVs for the repair of musculoskeletal injuries, such as intervertebral disc injury, tendinopathy, bone fractures, and cartilage injuries, there are still many hurdles to overcome before the clinical application of modified hydrogels. In this review, we focus on the advantages of the isolation technique of EVs in combination with different types of hydrogels. In this context, the efficacy of hydrogels loaded with MSC-derived EVs in different musculoskeletal injuries is discussed in detail to provide a reference for the future application of hydrogels loaded with MSC-derived EVs in the clinical treatment of musculoskeletal injuries.

Formulation and Characterization of Buccal Films Containing Valsartan with Additional Support from Image Analysis

The present study was aimed to the development and characterization of valsartan-containing buccal films with an introduction to a novel technique of image analysis. Visual inspection of the film provided a wealth of information that was difficult to quantify objectively. The obtained images of the films observed under the microscope were embedded in a convolutional neural network (CNN). The results were clustered according to their visual quality and on the basis of data distances. Image analysis proved to be a promising method to characterize buccal films appearance and their visual properties. The differential behavior of film composition was investigated using a reduced combinatorial experimental design. Formulation properties such as dissolution rate, moisture content, valsartan particle size distribution, film thickness, and drug assay were evaluated. In addition, more advanced methods such as Raman microscopy and image analysis were used to characterize the developed product in more detail. The results of dissolution tests using four different dissolution apparatuses showed a significant difference between the formulations containing the active ingredient in different polymorphic states. The dynamic contact angle of a water droplet on the surface of the films was measured, which correlated well with the dissolution times at 80% of the released drug (t80).