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Review
. 2021 Aug 6;13(8):1212.
doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13081212.

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), a New Chapter in the Production of Solid Oral Forms (SOFs) by 3D Printing

Yanis A Gueche  1 , Noelia M Sanchez-Ballester  1 , Sylvain Cailleaux  1   2 , Bernard Bataille  1 , Ian Soulairol  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), a New Chapter in the Production of Solid Oral Forms (SOFs) by 3D Printing

Yanis A Gueche et al. Pharmaceutics. .

Abstract

3D printing is a new emerging technology in the pharmaceutical manufacturing landscape. Its potential advantages for personalized medicine have been widely explored and commented on in the literature over recent years. More recently, the selective laser sintering (SLS) technique has been investigated for oral drug-delivery applications. Thus, this article reviews the work that has been conducted on SLS 3D printing for the preparation of solid oral forms (SOFs) from 2017 to 2020 and discusses the opportunities and challenges for this state-of-the-art technology in precision medicine. Overall, the 14 research articles reviewed report the use of SLS printers equipped with a blue diode laser (445-450 nm). The review highlights that the printability of pharmaceutical materials, although an important aspect for understanding the sintering process has only been properly explored in one article. The modulation of the porosity of printed materials appears to be the most interesting outcome of this technology for pharmaceutical applications. Generally, SLS shows great potential to improve compliance within fragile populations. The inclusion of "Quality by Design" tools in studies could facilitate the deployment of SLS in clinical practice, particularly where Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) for 3D-printing processes do not currently exist. Nevertheless, drug stability and powder recycling remain particularly challenging in SLS. These hurdles could be overcome by collaboration between pharmaceutical industries and compounding pharmacies.

Keywords: 3D printing; orally disintegrating forms; personalized medicine; printability; selective laser sintering; solid oral forms.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schema of the SLS printer.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Main critical properties for the printability of polymeric powders in SLS.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Different designs of dosage forms produced by SLS: (a) cylindrical [27,29,30,31,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41], (b) torus [31], (c) gyroid lattice [30], (d) bilayer cylindrical and gyroid [30], (e) miniprintlet [32], (f) dual miniprintlet [32], (g) cylindrical with Braille A [36], (h) cylindrical with Moon A [36], (i) sun with Moon M [36], (j) moon with Moon N [36], (k) heart with Moon C [36], (l) pentagon with Braille M [36].
Figure 4
Figure 4
SEM images of vertical sections: (A) dense printlet, (B) porous printlet [78]. Reproduced with permission from the authors.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Relationship between laser scanning speed, porosity of the printlets and disintegration.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Applications of SOFs printed by SLS in personalized medicine.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Collaboration of Pharmaceutical industries and compounding Pharmacies for the preparation of solid oral forms by SLS.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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