Influence of Geometry on the Drug Release Profiles of Stereolithographic (SLA) 3D-Printed Tablets

Additive manufacturing (3D printing) permits the fabrication of tablets in shapes unattainable by powder compaction, and so the effects of geometry on drug release behavior is easily assessed. Here, tablets (printlets) comprising of paracetamol dispersed in polyethylene glycol were printed using stereolithographic 3D printing. A number of geometric shapes were produced (cube, disc, pyramid, sphere and torus) with either constant surface area (SA) or constant surface area/volume ratio (SA/V). Dissolution testing showed that printlets with constant SA/V ratio released drug at the same rate, while those with constant SA released drug at different rates. A series of tori with increasing SA/V ratio (from 0.5 to 2.4) were printed, and it was found that dissolution rate increased as the SA/V ratio increased. The data show that printlets can be fabricated in multiple shapes and that dissolution performance can be maintained if the SA/V ratio is constant or that dissolution performance of printlets can be fine-tuned by varying SA/V ratio. The results suggest that 3D printing is therefore a suitable manufacturing method for personalized dosage forms.