3D Printing of Mini Tablets for Pediatric Use

Abstract

In the treatment of pediatric diseases, suitable dosages and dosage forms are often not available for an adequate therapy. The use of innovative additive manufacturing techniques offers the possibility of producing pediatric dosage forms. In this study, the production of mini tablets using fused deposition modeling (FDM)-based 3D printing was investigated. Two pediatric drugs, caffeine and propranolol hydrochloride, were successfully processed into filaments using hyprolose and hypromellose as polymers. Subsequently, mini tablets with diameters between 1.5 and 4.0 mm were printed and characterized using optical and thermal analysis methods. By varying the number of mini tablets applied and by varying the diameter, we were able to achieve different release behaviors. This work highlights the potential value of FDM 3D printing for the on-demand production of patient individualized, small-scale batches of pediatric dosage forms.

Keywords: 3D printing; FDM; caffeine; mini tablets; pediatrics; propranolol HCl.

Figure 1

Microscopic images of the filaments and printed tablets with HPMC as polymer (top row: containing caffeine; bottom row: containing propranolol hydrochloride; from left to right: filament, mini tablet diameter 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 mm).

Figure 2

Microscopic images of the filaments and printed tablets with hyprolose (HPC) as polymer (top row: containing caffeine; bottom row: containing propranolol hydrochloride; from left to right: filament, mini tablet diameter 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 mm).

Figure 3

Scanning electron microscopic image of the mini tablets (left: caffeine-containing HPMC mini tablets, diameter 4.0 mm; right: propranolol hydrochloride-containing HPMC mini tablets, diameter 4.0 mm).

Figure 4

Scanning electron microscopic image of the mini tablets (left: caffeine-containing HPC mini tablets, diameter 4.0 mm; right: propranolol hydrochloride-containing HPC mini tablets, diameter 4.0 mm).

Figure 5

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermograms of HPMC-containing probes ((A) caffeine-containing probes; (B) propranolol hydrochloride-containing probes).

Figure 6

DSC thermograms of HPC-containing probes ((A) caffeine-containing probes; (B) propranolol hydrochloride-containing probes).

Figure 7

Dissolution profiles of HPMC mini tablets containing caffeine (A) and propranolol hydrochloride (B) with diameters of 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 mm (mean +/− SD, n = 5).

Figure 8

Dissolution profiles of HPC mini tablets containing caffeine (A) and propranolol hydrochloride (B) with diameters of 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 mm (mean +/− SD, n = 5).