研究

研究人员将智能手机变成按需个性化药物3D打印机

研究ers at伦敦大学学院(UCL),圣地亚哥大学(USC) and biopharma firmfabrx, have managed to convert an everyday smartphone into an on-demand personalized drug 3D printer.

使用手机屏幕创建的可见光,修改后M3Dimaker lux系统已经证明,能够以特定形状,尺寸和剂量的3D打印鲜血片。可以通过用户友好的应用程序操作,希望在GP的远程监督下,居住在孤立地区的人将来可以将团队的机器在将来部署,以确保患者安全。

“This novel system would help people who need precise dosages that differ from how a medication is typically sold, as well as people whose required dosage may change regularly,” said the study’s lead author Xiaoyan Xu. “The tablet’s shape and size are also customizable, which enables flexibility in the rate at which the medication gets released into the bloodstream.”

“甚至有可能定制含有多种药物的印刷质子,以减轻老年患者的药丸负担。”

The researchers' smartphone-powered LCD 3D printer. Image via UCL.
研究人员的智能手机驱动的LCD 3D打印机。通过UCL图像。

可访问的药物“ LCD 3D打印”

In the pharmaceutical sector, 3D printing is increasingly being deployed to create custom medications that can be tailored specifically to meet the needs of certain patients.Aprecia是该领域的早期领导人之一,已经发展了Zipdose添加剂制造技术,一种方法,用于生产其快速溶解的Spritam癫痫发作平板电脑首先是FDA批准的3D印刷药物。

在更多实验性的3D打印应用程序中,巴基斯坦的研究人员也设法开发了一种3D打印抗生素片剂,他们可以调整药丸的填充百分比以改变消费时的释放率。根据UCL领导的团队的说法,在制造具有狭窄治疗指数的药物时,诸如此类的方法可能会变得“特别有益”,该索引包括其他癫痫发作药物(例如苯妥托)。

Although still at an early stage of development, several different approaches to drug 3D printing are already being tested. For its part, FabRx has previously harnessed SLS additive manufacturing to produce盲文图案对于视力障碍,一支团队在St. John’s University, New Yorkhas deployed FFF to manufacture an‘egg-shaped’ medication,旨在阻止阿片类药物滥用。

Another approach that has shown potential in this area is vat photopolymerization LCD 3D printing. In essence, the technology involves shining LED light upwards via an LCD screen, which is used as a ‘mask’ to generate an image of each layer. When the light passes through this filter, only the pixels needed for creating the current layer are shown, in a way that ultimately enables parts to be produced accurately, one layer at a time.

Given the widespread availability of LCD-equipped consumer devices, the UCL-led research team believes such systems could hold great potential as a means of “improving accessibility to healthcare.” However, to truly achieve this, they say that a more user-friendly 3D printer now needs to be developed, which can be operated easily within a home environment.

“大多数3D打印机都相对较大,需要训练有素的操作员,并且必须位于制药环境中才能制造剂型,”论文中的团队解释说。“为了充分意识到药物生产的潜力,需要易于操作的便携式打印机。”

The scientists' LCD 3D printing workflow.
The scientists’ proposed LCD 3D printing workflow. Image via the International Journal of Pharmaceutics.

进入LCD驱动的生产

To power their novel LCD printer, the researchers chose to attach a华为P10智能手机到FabRX M3Dimaker Lux System的Resin Tank的底面。使用透明的FEP膜连接到机器,将设备紧紧地绑住,以确保其距印刷床不超过1厘米,并且可以实现最佳的打印结果。

为了使其设置尽可能易于复制,该团队还为其3D打印机开发了专用的移动应用程序,并配有“控制”,“打印”和“配置”功能。研究人员使用他们的应用程序,不仅可以控制系统构建平台的移动,还可以使用不同形状的预先准备的平板电脑模型进行打印,以简化药丸的生产。

组装后,由UCL领导的团队选择通过创建含有华法林的平板电脑来测试其自定义打印机,这是一种具有高度报告的患者反应可变性的鲜血药物。得益于3D建模软件的灵活性,科学家发现他们能够以7.54毫克至29.25 mg的剂量创建药物,展示了其设置的药物个性化功能。

If their system were to find widespread usage, the researchers acknowledge that controls would need to be put in place to prevent its abuse. However, the team also maintains that given the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is currently evaluating the viability of distributed drug production, a machine like theirs could yet be applied in hospitals, homes, or GPs’ surgeries.

“We are continuing to refine our technology and improve the safety of the printlets, as well as to build in safeguards such as enabling doctors to remotely monitor a patient’s medical printer to check adherence to a treatment plan,” concluded study co-lead Abdul Basit. “While plenty of challenges remain to bring our vision to life, we hope that 3D printed medications could facilitate point-of-care medicine.”

该团队的原型华法林的平板电脑。
The team’s prototype warfarin-loaded tablets. Image via the International Journal of Pharmaceutics.

基于智能手机的AM创新

With many commercial smartphones now possessing a level of processing power that used to be reserved for desktop computers, they’re increasingly proving useful within experimental 3D printing setups. In July last year, researchers at theUniversity of Otago ChristchurchHarvard Medical Schooldeveloped a基于智能手机的3D BioProinter,能够按需创建特定于患者的组织。

Scientists atRMIT University, meanwhile, have come up with a3D打印的“夹子”过滤器这将智能手机摄像机变成了强大的显微镜。该单元旨在作为远程医疗保健诊所的护理诊断工具或研究设备的应用,据说该设备可以使标本能够小至1/200毫米的1/200毫米。

Elsewhere, Kickstarter-funded firmONOhas previously attempted to commercialize asmartphone-powered resin 3D printerof its own, but pulled the plug on its campaign in July 2021. The project’s failure demonstrated the difficulty of bringing such a device to market, as despite having raised $2.3 million in funding, it had only managed to ship a handful of systems by the time it closed down for good.

The researchers’ findings are detailed in their paper titled “支持智能手机的3D药物打印”,由Xiaoyan Xu,Alejandro Seijo-Rabina,Atheer Awad,Carlos Rial,Simon Gaisford,Abdul W. Basit和Alvaro Goyanes合着。

要了解最新的3D印刷新闻,请不要忘记订阅3D打印行业newsletter或跟随我们推特或喜欢我们的页面Facebook

For a deeper dive into additive manufacturing, you can now subscribe to ourYouTube频道,包括讨论,汇报和3D打印进程的镜头。

Are you looking for a job in the additive manufacturing industry? Visit3D Printing Jobs在行业中选择一系列角色。

特色图显示了研究人员的智能手机驱动的LCD 3D打印机。通过UCL图像。

没有新的文章