3D PRINTING IN PERSONALIZED MEDICINE: A PHARMACEUTICS PERSPECTIVE
The technology and ability of 3D printing have transformed the sphere of personalized medicine, allowing manufacturing of the customized drug delivery to address diverse needs of a specific patient with regard to physiologic, pharmacokinetically, and therapeutically oriented preferences. This review generates a pharmaceutics-oriented view of the use of novel 3D printing technologies such as the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), Stereolithography (SLA), and inkjet printing in the development of personalized dosage forms comprising of oral tablets, implants, microneedles, and transdermal patches. Animal model experimental preclinical research, such as that in rabbits, rats, and mice, has proven the capability of the technologies to perform zero order release and controlled release of drugs, the capability to release multiple drugs using staggered kinetics, and to provide site-specific or minimally invasive delivery. The results support the benefits of structural flexibility, programmable release profiles, and improved patient adherence, especially in the case of complex conditions and important vulnerable groups of patients (pediatric and geriatric). But there are still some impediments on the way to clinical application, such as thermal instability of labile drugs, biocompatibility issues, poor reproducibility in device operation, a lack of standard regulatory frameworks, and insufficient long-term safety documentation. The review ends with a purpose of identifying the future research and development directions that include the necessity of the use of superior biocompatible materials, inherent hybrid printing methods and scalability in production, as well as interdisciplinary cooperation to enable clinical translation and redefine the future of personalized drug treatment.