Printable tablet breakthrough
May 30, 2016
A NEW era of pharmacy
compounding could be at hand,
with researchers from the National
University of Singapore (NUS)
finding a way to make personalised
medicine cheaper and easier.
A new method of tablet
fabrication designed by Assistant
Professor Soh Siow Ling and PhD
student Ms Sun Yajuan from the
Department of Chemical and
Biomolecular Engineering at the
NUS Faculty of Engineering enables
“printing” of customisable pills with
any desired release profiles.
“This new tablet fabrication
method is a game changer -- it
is technically simple, relatively
inexpensive and versatile,” said
lead researcher Siow Ling.
The tablet has three components,
including a polymer containing the
drug with a specifically designed
shape which determines the rate of
release of the medication.
A prescriber can draw the desired
release profile - which can be
continuous or in timed pulses -
using software designed by the NUS
scientists to generate a template
for making medications specific to a
particular patient.
The tablets are then produced
using a 3D printer, with the method
also suitable for mass production.
This system can also be modified
to include multiple types of drugs in
a single dose, with each component
customised to release at different
rates even within the same tablet.
The NUS team has filed a patent
for the fabrication method and is
now working on combinations of
materials for the polymer-based
components of the tablet to cater
to various drug types and illnesses.
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