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Introduction and Need for Additive Manufacturing in the Medical Industry
Published in Harish Kumar Banga, Rajesh Kumar, Parveen Kalra, Rajendra M. Belokar, Additive Manufacturing with Medical Applications, 2023
The manufacture of medicines with complicated drug-release profiles is one of the most commonly studied AM application areas. Additive processing increases the value of rendering multiple medicines consistent with several polymers in one formulation, meaning that various medicines are specifically distributed to different parts of the body and at specified time intervals. The polypill encourages the taking of the pill and promotes the independence of each treatment in patients with various illnesses, including elevated blood pressure, diabetes and chronic kidney disease [28].
3D Nanoprinting in the Biomedical Industries
Published in Ajit Behera, Tuan Anh Nguyen, Ram K. Gupta, Smart 3D Nanoprinting, 2023
Vaibhavi Srivastava, Mayank Handa, Rahul Shukla
Traditional medication is more like fitting all shapes in one groove, but in reality, there may be significant differences among individuals against drug responses, even at the same dose [4,5]. Personalized medicine can be the solution for this problem as it is able to reduce the risk of drug adverse effects. When the medical treatment provided to the patient suits the characteristics of the individual, it is said to be personalized medicine. This depends on the fact that every individual has its own molecular and genetic profile, and so every individual will react differently to the same dose of the same drug. Personalized medicines are more satisfactory to the patient as they adhere to individual pharmacokinetic properties [6]. Manufacturing of conventional dosage forms occur in bulk, thus personalized dosing is expensive and impractical. In order to provide personalized medication, often available dosage forms like tablets or capsules could be modify by breaking or crushing, but this may lead to incorrect dosing [7]. 3D printing or additive manufacturing is a peculiar technique for rapid modelling, and prototyping involves the fabrication of geometrical solid objects by depositing raw materials in a layer-by-layer fashion. 3D printing is procuring the attention of pharmaceutical researchers and formulation scientists as an effective approach to overcome the above mentioned challenges. Additive manufacturing technology can design drugs and dosage forms immediately, on demand. Thus, the application of 3D nanoprinting in pharmaceutical industries pushes it a step closer to customized medicine [8]. Oral dosage forms are the most popular and compliant form. 3D printing can fabricate tablets of different geometry and drug release patterns. Polypill, created by a 3D printer, contains multiple drugs in a single tablet with different release time, and thus is beneficial for geriatric patients as they are generally on more than one therapy. A 3D printer can fabricate solid geometries, oral dosage forms, numerous types of tablets, and medical devices. Additive manufacturing is slow compared to traditional mass production, even though it possesses its own advantages, like personalization, cost effectiveness, applicability for small batches, and more compatibility to the patient. Few 3D printing techniques are best fit for the manufacturing of nano and microscale delivery systems, e.g., DLP and SLA. The conventional production strategy is unable to produce high-dose tablets due to the limitation of blending and punching steps, while Khaled et al. published an article about 3D printing of high-dose paracetamol tablets [9]. Every coin has two faces. In spite of all, additive manufacturing possesses a few limitations; for instance, it is not suitable for bulk production, it possesses low loading capacity, and it requires skilled personnel.
Delivering epilepsy care in low-resource settings: the role of technology
Published in Expert Review of Medical Devices, 2021
Amza Ali, Diba Dindoust, Justin Grant, Dave Clarke
MRI directed interstitial laser ablation surgery if perfected in the developed world will be an absolute transformation for the care of people with refractory epilepsies in under-resourced parts of the world where temporal lobe epilepsy is the commonest cause of refractory epilepsy [83–85]. Indeed, the median incidence rate of epilepsy in developed countries ranges from 25–50 per 100,000 person years while in developing countries it ranges from approximately 30–115 per 100,000 person years [86]. In appropriate cases, benefits of short stay and less potential for complications, patient satisfaction and potential for reduced long term medical cost would likely far exceed upfront cost in these settings [87]. This could be done with many tools available in most surgical centers with the need for at least a 1.5 tesla MRI [88]. Laser ablation surgery has also been shown to be effective in extratemporal epilepsy [89]. A surgical robot and, in some instances invasive monitoring electrode placement for phase II evaluations could gradually be phased in place as clinical and fiscal benefits are appreciated. Of course, safe reliable internet and electrical power will be absolutely necessary for such procedures, which will mean it will not be feasible in many low and even some middle-income countries. However, innovations such as commercial scale battery storage, storing energy from solar or other sources can provide stable energy backup, especially for peak usage periods when electrical grid failures are common in developing countries [90,91]. Virtual reality is also an evolving technique that can be used to train surgeons in the techniques of epilepsy surgery. It has already been helping improve the training of surgical residents in other surgical disciplines [92,93]. Finally, another promising technological innovation is that of 3D printing of polypills with several layers of drugs to help with patient adherence when patients are on multiple ASDs. This polypill demonstrated that complex medication regimes can be combined in a single personalized tablet and potentially allows tailoring of a drug combination/drug release for the specific needs of an individual [94]. As mentioned previously in this paper non-adherence is one of the greatest challenges in epilepsy care in developing countries and the ability to inexpensively combine medication doses in a tailored way for each patient will be a great step forward in closing the treatment gap.