This study reports the first case of an innovative drop-on-powder (DoP) three-dimensional\n(3D) printing technology to produce oral tablets (diameters of 10 mm and 13 mm) loaded with an\nanticancer model drug, 5-fluorouracil (FLU). For this study, a composition of the powder carrier\ncontaining CaSO4 hydrates, vinyl polymer, and carbohydrate was used as the matrix former, whereas\n2-pyrrolidone with a viscosity like water was used as a binding liquid or inkjet ink. All tablets\nwere printed using a commercial ZCorp 3D printer with modification. The resultant tablets were\nsubject to coating with various polymeric solutions containing the drug. The composition of the\npolymeric solutions was adjusted at drug: polymer(s) 1:1 (w/w) ratio. Either Soluplus® (SOL) alone\nor in combination with polyethylene glycol (PEG) was used to develop the coating solution of 2.5%\n(w/v) concentration. The particle size analysis, flow test, and particle morphology studies revealed\nmono-modal narrow size distribution, good flow properties, and porous loosely bound texture\n(of the tablets), respectively. Moreover, the advanced application of the fluorescence microscopy\nshowed a homogenous distribution of the drug throughout the surface of the 3D printed tablets.\nThe in vitro dissolution studies showed that the tablet compositions, dimensions, and the coating\nsolution compositions influenced the release of the drug from the tablets. It can be concluded that our\ninnovative DoP 3D printing technology can be used to fabricate personalized dosage forms containing\noptimized drug content with high accuracy and shape fidelity. This is particularly suitable for those\ndrugs that are highly unstable in thermal processing and cannot withstand the heat treatment, such\nas in fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing.
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