pH Responsive 3d Printed Tablets For Controlled Drug Delivery - ISMBE - Biomedical Engineering, International Convention Center Haifa 22.2.2018

Arnon Fluksman ² Liraz Larush ¹ Inon Kaner ² Amol Ashok Pawar ¹ Polina Lesnovski ¹ Aviad Tamsut ² Ofra Benny ² Shlomo Magdassi ¹

¹Casali Center of Applied Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
²Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

3D printing technology has enabled unprecedented flexibility in the design and manufacturing of complex objects, which can be utilized in personalized and programmable medicines. The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential of 3D printing to fabricate drug loaded systems, with special designs and unique drug release characteristics, which otherwise are not possible to fabricate by using conventional pharmaceutical manufacturing methods. Oral dosage forms of pH responsive hydrogels were 3D printed using biocompatible monomer (acrylic acid), cross-linker (PEGDA) and photoinitiator (TPO nanoparticles). Sulfo-rhodamine B, a pH independent fluorescent dye, was selected as model drug. The printed structures exhibited pH responsive swelling and the effect of different pH and surface area were studied on swelling and drug release. The structures showed higher swelling and faster drug release at higher pH. Structures with higher surface area showed higher swelling and faster drug release and vice versa.