3D printing technology in drug delivery: Polymer properties and applications

Pharmaceutical sciences are the exploration of the design, composition, action, and conveyance of drugs. It encompasses a wide range of research domains that seems to be fundamental for the discovery and development of new drugs and therapies. It is indeed categorized under many fractions with numerous specialized fields. New concepts in pharmaceutical research, a greater understanding of the properties of polymeric materials, fabricating innovation, and novel methodologies that assure high-quality dosage forms are being constantly pursued. The application of 3D printing technology in the area of drug delivery has brought new scope and opportunities. Various dosage forms like tablets, catheters, nanosuspensions, nanocomposites, multi-layered dosage forms, polypills, caplets, complex drug release dosage forms, and medical drug delivery devices have been explored in the recent past and detailed reviews of pharmaceuticals have also been studied. However, this technology has not been limited to the drug delivery or medical device field only. In this article, the authors highlighted the physiochemical properties of polymers that are utilized in the preparation of pharmaceutical dosage forms and also describes some of the new advancements and educational applications that have given a new dimension to this novel 3D-printing technology apart from the pharmaceutical and biomedical arena. [GRAPHICS]