Engineering long-term controlled drug release from biodegradable devices 3D printed with vat polymerization.

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Engineering
• Drug Delivery Systems
• 3D Printing Technologies

Background:

• Vat polymerization (VP) 3D printing offers high-resolution fabrication of complex geometries for patient-specific drug delivery devices.
• Current limitations include the use of slow-degrading resins, leading to diffusion-controlled drug release and lack of long-term control.
• The role of device degradation in achieving controlled drug release from 3D-printed devices is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of degradation on drug release kinetics using VP 3D printing of biodegradable polyester resins.
• To explore how modifying geometric parameters affects device degradation and drug release.
• To establish a fundamental understanding of utilizing degradation for controlled, long-term drug release.

Main Methods:

• Utilized vat polymerization (VP) 3D printing with fast-degrading polyester resins loaded with rhodamine B (RhB) as a model drug.
• Systematically varied geometric parameters including surface area to volume ratio, strut beam size, and pore size.
• Quantified the effect of these geometric modifications on device degradation and RhB release profiles.

Main Results:

• Print geometry significantly influenced the degradation rate of the 3D-printed devices.
• Tailoring geometric parameters enabled long-term controlled release of RhB.
• The onset of degradation-controlled release was identified as a critical factor for achieving constant drug release rates.

Conclusions:

• VP 3D printing with biodegradable resins provides a viable platform for engineering long-term controlled drug release devices.
• Geometric control over degradation is key to achieving predictable and sustained drug delivery.
• This research offers insights into optimizing 3D-printed biodegradable devices for clinical applications.