Our journey through scientific discoveries enabled by the Snowwhite SLS 3D printer continues with an examination of the paper titled “Selective laser sintering for printing bilayer tablets“. We’ll start by making the research accessible, explaining the central question the study addressed and the primary findings. Afterwards, we’ll include the original abstract and any cited sources for those wishing to explore the finer points of the work.

Understanding the study and its main result

This research used a our Snowwhite2 to make special two-layer tablets. These tablets contained two different medicines: rosuvastatin and acetylsalicylic acid.

First, the researchers made single-layer tablets of each medicine separately. They used different laser strengths to see how that affected the tablets’ properties like how well they dissolved, how easily they broke (friability), and how hard they were.

After figuring out the best settings, they created the two-layer tablets. They used a new technique that involved a 3D-printed case to hold the different medicine powders in the right places during printing.

The results showed that stronger lasers made the tablets denser, harder, less likely to break, and released the medicine more slowly. Also, the new method successfully created perfectly aligned two-layer tablets, and combining the two medicines didn’t significantly change how they dissolved.

Main result

The main discovery here is that it’s possible to use Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) 3D printing to create multi-material drug delivery systems. In simpler terms, they figured out a way to 3D print pills with different medications in separate layers, and they developed a new method to make sure those layers are perfectly aligned. This opens the door for making more complex and customized medicine combinations in a single tablet.

Selective laser sintering for printing bilayer tablets

Laura Andrade Junqueira (a), Atabak Ghanizadeh Tabriz (a), Vivek Garg (b), Siva Satyanarayana Kolipaka (c), Ho-Wah Hui d, Nathan Boersen (d), Sandra Roberts (d), John Jones (e), Dennis Douroumis (a) (c)
a) Delta Pharmaceutics Ltd., Chatham, Kent ME4 4TB, UK
b) Wolfson Centre for Bulk Solids Handling Technology, Faculty of Engineering & Science, University of Greenwich, Central Avenue, Chatham ME4 4TB, UK
c) Centre for Research Innovation (CRI), University of Greenwich, Chatham ME4 4TB, UK
d) Drug Product Development, Bristol Myers Squibb, 556 Morris Avenue, Summit, NJ 07901, USA
e) Bristol Myers Squibb, Reeds Lane, Moreton, Wirral, UK

Ref.: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2024.125116

Abstract

In this study Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) was used to produce bilayer tablets containing rosuvastatin and acetylsalicylic acid. Initially, monolithic tablets of each drug were manufactured using different laser intensities in order to identify their impact on the tablet’s dissolution, friability and hardness. After the optimization, the final bilayer tablet was fabricated using a new method, that allowed the printing using different powder blends. For that, a 3D-printed casing was employed to maintain the compartments of the tablet in the correct position during the printing process. The results demonstrated that the increased laser intensities led to denser inner cores, enhanced hardness, decreased friability, and slower drug release. Moreover, the new method was able to produce bilayer tablets completely aligned, showing a minor impact on dissolution when the two compartments were printed together in a single tablet. The work demonstrated the feasibility of using SLS in the production of multi-material drug delivery systems.