3D print-on-demand technology for personalised medicines at the point of care

该项目的目的是开发一种3D打印技术，可用于打印适合个体患者的按需药物（例如片剂或复杂设计）。该平台技术将允许在医院打印各种复合药物，可以以不同的强度和高精度打印剂量。这些个性化药物将提供专门设计的治疗，以适应患者的独特需求，并改善他们的健康。印刷的片剂或胶囊在放在病人舌头上时迅速溶解，并通过加入香料和甜味剂提供吸引人的味道。该技术提供了有效的苦味掩盖，从而提高了儿童对药物的接受度。它也适用于老年患者，特别是那些有吞咽困难（如中风、痴呆）或有胃病的患者。最重要的是，这项新技术将具有成本效益，在短时间内打印药物，减少药物浪费，提高医疗保健的有效性。在医院使用3D打印技术将允许临床医生设计、打印和分发复合药物，以改善患者的治疗。

The aim of the project is to develop a 3D printing technology that can be used to print on demand medicines (e.g., tablets, or complex designs) which are suitable for individual patients. This platform technology will allow the printing of various compounding drugs at the hospital where the dose can be printed at different strengths and high accuracy.These personalised medications will offer treatment specifically designed to suit the unique needs of the patients and improve their wellbeing. The printed tablets or capsules dissolve rapidly when placed on the patient tongue and provide an appealing taste through the incorporation of flavours and sweeteners. The technology offers efficient taste masking of bitter drugs and hence improve the medicine acceptability from children. It will be also suitable for geriatric patients especially those with swallowing difficulties (e.g., stroke, dementia) or have stomach pathologies.Most importantly this novel technology will be cost-effective, print medicines in short times, reduce medication wastage and increase the effectiveness of healthcare. The use of 3D printing technologies at the hospital will allow clinicians to design, print and distribute compounding drugs for improved patient treatment.