Impressão 3D na área farmacêutica: novo método de incorporação de fármacos por modelagem por deposição fundida e a avaliação da percepção de mulheres e ginecologistas em relação a anéis vaginais impressos por 3D

Abstract

The application of three-dimensional printing (3D) in the pharmaceutical field has aroused interest in the scientific community and the industry. In this context, fused deposition modeling (FDM), which is based on the extrusion of a thermoplastic filament, stands out. For the incorporation of the drug in the filament, there are the methods of impregnation and hot melt extrusion, but they have limitations Therefore, the objective of the first chapter was to develop a new method for the incorporation of model drugs by FDM. For this, the following steps were carried out: 1) development of a manual method of incorporation using FDM to produce plain tablets that were a scaffold to support the application of a minoxidil solution; 2) automating the method by coupling FDM and inkjet printing, in addition to evaluating the influence of ethanol concentration on the dissolution of minoxidil tablets; 3) evaluate the method to produce personalized rosuvastatin tablets, through the investigation of different polymeric inks. The results obtained generated three scientific articles, where we found that: 1) the manual method was effective to produce minoxidil tablets and the drug was released in 5 minutes; 2) the automation of the method provided precision and reproducibility, controlling drug deposition; moreover, the miscibility of the solvent with the polymer influenced the site of drug deposition and release profile; 3) the new method produced rosuvastatin tablets with personalized dose and release profile. In the second chapter, 3D printing was used in the w field, aiming to investigate the perceptions of women and gynecologists regarding 3Dprinted vaginal rings with personalized shapes. The devices were produced in four different geometries by FDM for a cross-sectional and quantitative survey with 155 participants. The majority of women stated that they would feel comfortable using some of the 3D-printed vaginal ring geometries and demonstrated good acceptability for the traditional and two innovative geometries. However, women presented multiple preferences, with no single preferred geometry. In addition, their background was associated with the acceptance of geometries. Most gynecologists would prescribe the traditional and one innovative geometry, which were well evaluated in technical parameters. Their preference was also clear for these two geometries. Overall, although there was a difference in the perception between women and gynecologists, they had a positive opinion about the 3D-printed VRs, which indicates the feasibility of 3D printing to produce acceptable VRs. Finally, the personalized VRs could lead to an increase in therapeutic adherence, by meeting women's varied preferences.