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Wang S, Han X, Gao X, Zhang H, Li C, Duan S, Wu J, Wang Z, Zheng A. The Evaluation and Exploration of Piezoelectric Parameter Optimization for Droplet Ejection in Binder Jet 3D Printing Drugs. 3D PRINTING AND ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING 2023; 10:1090-1100. [PMID: 37886408 PMCID: PMC10599426 DOI: 10.1089/3dp.2022.0131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
Since the first three-dimensional (3D) printed drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2015, there has been a growing interest in using binder jet 3D printing (BJ-3DP) technology for pharmaceuticals. However, most studies are still at an exploratory stage, lacking micromechanism research, such as the droplet ejection mechanism, the effect of printhead piezoelectric parameters on inkjet smoothness and preparation formability. In this study, based on the inkjet printing and observation platform, the Epson I3200-A1 piezoelectric printhead matched to the self-developed BJ-3DP was selected to analyze the droplet ejection state of self-developed ink at the microlevel with different piezoelectric pulse parameters. The results showed that there was a stable inkjet state with an inkjet pulse width of 3.5 μs, an ink supply pulse width of 4.5 μs, and a jet frequency in the range of 5000-19,000 Hz, ensuring both better droplet pattern and print accuracy, as well as high ejection efficiency. In conclusion, we performed a systematic evaluation of the inkjet behavior under different piezoelectric pulse parameters and provided a good idea and case study for the optimization of printhead piezoelectric parameters when BJ-3DP technology was used in pharmaceuticals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shanshan Wang
- College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, China
- Pharmacy Research Laboratory, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Academy of Military Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaolu Han
- Pharmacy Research Laboratory, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Academy of Military Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xiang Gao
- Pharmacy Research Laboratory, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Academy of Military Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Hui Zhang
- Pharmacy Research Laboratory, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Academy of Military Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Conghui Li
- Pharmacy Research Laboratory, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Academy of Military Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Shuwei Duan
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing, China
| | - Jie Wu
- Department of Nephrology, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Beijing, China
| | - Zengming Wang
- Pharmacy Research Laboratory, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Academy of Military Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Aiping Zheng
- Pharmacy Research Laboratory, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Academy of Military Sciences, Beijing, China
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Needles to Spheres: Evaluation of inkjet printing as a particle shape enhancement tool. Eur J Pharm Biopharm 2023; 184:92-102. [PMID: 36707008 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpb.2023.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Revised: 01/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) often reveal shapes challenging to process, e.g. acicular structures, and exhibit reduced bioavailability induced by slow dissolution rate. Leveraging the API particles' surface and bulk properties offers an attractive pathway to circumvent these challenges. Inkjet printing is an attractive processing technique able to tackle these limitations already in initial stages when little material is available, while particle properties are maintained over the entire production scale. Additionally, it is applicable to a wide range of formulations and offers the possibility of co-processing with a variety of excipients to improve the API's bioavailability. This study addresses the optimization of particle shapes for processability enhancement and demonstrates the successful application of inkjet printing to engineer spherical lacosamide particles, which are usually highly acicular. By optimizing the ink formulation, adapting the substrate-liquid interface and tailoring the heat transfer to the particle, spherical particles in the vicinity of 100 µm, with improved flow properties compared to the bulk material, were produced. Furthermore, the particle size was tailored reproducibly by adjusting the deposited ink volume per cycle and the number of printing cycles. Therefore, the present study shows a novel, reliable, scalable and economical strategy to overcome challenging particle morphologies by co-processing an API with suitable excipients.
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Development of a Workflow to Engineer Tailored Microparticles Via Inkjet Printing. Pharm Res 2023; 40:281-294. [PMID: 36380170 DOI: 10.1007/s11095-022-03426-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE New drug development and delivery approaches result in an ever-increasing demand for tailored microparticles with defined sizes and structures. Inkjet printing technologies could be promising new processes to engineer particles with defined characteristics, as they are created to precisely deliver liquid droplets with high uniformity. METHODS D-mannitol was used as a model compound alone or co-processed with the pore former agent ammonium bicarbonate, and the polymer polyethylene glycol 200. Firstly, a drop shape analyzer was used to characterize and understand ink/substrate interactions, evaporation, and solidification kinetics. Consequently, the process was transferred to a laboratory-scale inkjet printer and the resulting particles collected, characterized and compared to others obtained via an industrial standard technique. RESULTS The droplet shape analysis allowed to understand how 3D structures are formed and helped define the formulation and process parameters for inkjet printing. By adjusting the drop number and process waveform, spherical particles with a mean size of approximately 100 µm were obtained. The addition of pore former and polymer allowed to tailor the crystallization kinetics, resulting in particles with a different surface (i.e., spike-like surface) and bulk (e.g. porous and non-porous) structure. CONCLUSION The workflow described enabled the production of 3D structures via inkjet printing, demonstrating that this technique can be a promising approach to engineer microparticles.
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Abstract
This article presents a numerical simulation of a printhead model for drop-on-demand (DoD) inkjet printers. A three-dimensional droplet model is provided for the numerical study of inks, ejection parameters, droplet movement, and the analysis of droplet impacts on the surface. This work is devoted to the analysis of different droplet ejection settings during the printing process, when the behavior of the droplet directly affects the accuracy of the printing process itself. A numerical model was also developed to investigate the effect of various settings on droplet stability, including printhead size and nozzle orifice, motion parameters (pulse strength and droplet ejection amplitude) and fluid properties. The results reflect the behavior of the ink droplet over time. The behavior of the drop was tested at different waveform ejection parameters and a mass turnover was observed.
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