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A process-driven approach for manufacturing personalized intravaginal rings using droplet deposition modeling
Nobel O Sierra-Vega1, Manjusha Annaji1, Muhammad Ashraf1
1Office of Pharmaceutical Quality Research, CDER, U.S. FDA, USA.
International Journal of Pharmaceutics
|November 13, 2025
Summary
Droplet Deposition Modeling (DDM) advances personalized medicine by enabling custom drug delivery devices. Optimizing printing parameters like infill density is key for tailored intravaginal rings (IVRs) with controlled drug release.
Area of Science:
- Pharmaceutical Technology
- Additive Manufacturing
- Materials Science
Background:
- Personalized drug delivery systems require advanced manufacturing techniques.
- Intravaginal rings (IVRs) are effective for localized drug delivery.
- Droplet Deposition Modeling (DDM) offers potential for customized pharmaceutical production.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of DDM printing parameters on the characteristics of 3D-printed β-estradiol IVRs.
- To understand how infill density (ID), droplet aspect ratio (DAR), and discharge rate (DR) influence IVR performance.
- To optimize DDM for personalized drug delivery applications.
Main Methods:
- 3D printing of β-estradiol loaded IVRs using DDM.
- Systematic variation of printing parameters: ID, DAR, and DR.
- Characterization of IVRs including morphology, porosity, weight, mechanical properties, and in vitro drug release.
Main Results:
- DDM produced IVRs with high dimensional accuracy and batch uniformity.
- Increased ID and DR enhanced IVR weight, hardness, mechanical strength, and viscoelasticity, while reducing porosity.
- DAR variations showed opposing effects. Higher ID correlated with slower drug release.
Conclusions:
- Printing parameters significantly influence DDM-fabricated IVR properties and drug release profiles.
- DDM is a viable technology for producing personalized IVRs with tunable drug release.
- This research supports additive manufacturing for personalized medicine and distributed drug manufacturing.
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