Patient: "I forgot to take my morning meds today!" Provider: "Not anymore!" by

Summary

dveneracion — 2025-01-22 18:50:11 UTC

3D-printing is not new. " '3D-printing' is defined as the manufacturing of solid objects by the deposition of layers of material (such as plastic) in accordance with specifications that are stored and displayed in electronic form as a digital model" (Merriam-Webster, n.d.) A subset of 3D-printing, called " 'additive manufacturing', instead of the old approach of carving a usable part out of a large block of material, additive manufacturing builds an object up layer by layer" (Greenemeier, n.d.). Additive manufacturing is what is being used in the exciting new field of 3D-printing of pills that would essentially eliminate polypharmacy in the traditional sense and instead replace multiple medications into one pill (Paul, 2024). This "polypill" would then be able to help "treat diseases requiring the release of multiple drugs at different times" (Paul, 2024, p. 1). As of this date, there have been only two FDA approved 3D-printed medication, Spritam (levetiracetam), approved in 2015 and manufactured by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals, LLC (USA) and Triastek's (China) T19 medication for rheumatoid arthritis approved in 2021 (Wang et al., 2023).

Of all the 3D-Printing out there, let's look at the number 5 slot: Drugs

dveneracion — 2025-01-22 18:58:25 UTC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XYLRaVqzNY&t=178s

Many new exciting avenues for 3D-Printing, especially in healthcare that are currently being used. Most importantly, many new pharmaceuticals in the pipeline!

Spritam (levetiracetam)

dveneracion — 2025-01-22 19:04:27 UTC

Prasco, LLC and Aprecia Pharmaceuticals, LLC. (2023, July 12). Making medicine using 3D printing. SPRITAM ® (levetiracetam). https://spritam.com/making-medicine-using-3d-printing/

Triastek's T19 for Rheumatoid Arthritis

dveneracion — 2025-01-22 19:11:17 UTC

治汇网络科技(上海)有限公司-高端网站建设-Https://www.vthinks.net. (2023, November 7). Triastek Debuts at CIIE, Joining Siemens and other partners bringing . Triastek debuts at CIIE, joining Siemens and other partners bringing-news-三迭纪 Triastek. https://www.triastek.com/detail/27.html#:~:text=In%20July%202022%2C%20Triastek’s%203D,FDA%20in%20the%20United%20States.

What goes into the process of manufacturing medications via 3D-Printing

dveneracion — 2025-01-22 19:19:31 UTC

Wang, S., Chen, X., Han, X., Hong, X., Li, X., Zhang, H., Li, M., Wang, Z., & Zheng, A. (2023, January 26). A review of 3D printing technology in Pharmaceutics: Technology and Applications, now and future. Pharmaceutics. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9962448/#sec8-pharmaceutics-15-00416

Pros/Advantages

dveneracion — 2025-01-22 19:41:52 UTC

customization of a particular drug is possible, and customization for a particular group in the population (children, elderly, those with specific disease processes that require specific medications that are unable to be standardized)
3D-Printing has the flexibility for time-released medications to be readily adjusted prior to printing/manufacturing
end products can be made easier and faster and do not require large machinery or large changes in processes during production (multiple medications can be made in one production versus the current process of standardized manufacturing of pharmaceuticals where it is tedious and time consuming to change the machinery to start producing a different drug) (Wang et al., 2023).

Cons/Disadvantages

dveneracion — 2025-01-22 20:05:55 UTC

reports that some of the drugs that are layered in the "polypill" form are not being released/no Quality Assurance guaranteed practices at this time (Yasin et al., 2024).
lack of appropriate materials and lack of manufacturers at this time
no real regulatory bodies checking for patient safety practices, legal jurisdictions, manufacturing licenses, etc., at this time (Basit and Trenfield, 2022).

Opinion and Rationale

dveneracion — 2025-01-22 20:18:02 UTC

I have never heard of this innovation, and I didn't even know they had it available for people who were taking Keppra. I believe that this type of innovation would be so helpful for anyone on multiple medications, especially those who have to take certain medications in the morning as well as in the evening, like my mother. Because it is such a new innovation, there are only two medications currently approved by the FDA, it is still too early to say if it would be effective in the long run. In my readings, it says is more cost effective and less of an issue regarding the processing footprint goes, like the machinery is smaller than the standardized way medications are being made, but I feel the process is complicated with adding multiple layers of medication at different rates and different time release contingencies. In addition, there is no way to know for sure how effective the polypill is as right now, it doesn't seem like there is that much reporting or regulatory practices in place to make sure patients are indeed getting the right dosages at the right time. I'm sure that companies are racing the clock with trying to get rid of the hiccups but I believe we still have a long way to go with regards to coming up with a decent "polypill."

Using Strengths

dveneracion — 2025-01-22 20:46:26 UTC

My top 5 CliftonStrengths as related to by Gallup (2024), are developer, empathy, communication, activator, and relator. As a developer and relator type, I am able to encourage others while also striving to complete a task to the best of my and my team's ability. As one who is strong with empathy and communication, I can convey my thoughts and emotions to where all ideas would be considered and no one would feel that they weren't able to contribute. As an activator, I would lead the team by formulating a plan and implementing it not just have ideas circulating around.

MY TEAM!

dveneracion — 2025-01-22 21:03:11 UTC

Carlee-Carlee is a great problem-solver and she is good at executing ideas via her CliftonStrengths of consistency. I feel she will keep the team on track and if we run into any issues with evaluating the product, she will be able to present different ways of looking at what the team isn't seeing. She's a great brainstormer.

Faith-Faith's CliftonStrengths strength is being futuristic. Our evaluation of a polypill that will essentially eliminate the need for taking multiple pills, is not difficult for Faith to fathom. She has an ingenuity about her and she can think outside the box, which is what will be needed in evaluating if this polypill can be distributed worldwide for all populations to benefit from.

Daisy-Daisy is similar to me, in that we both are developers and become enthused and inspired when the team is able to work in sync. Daisy is a great motivator and is a supportive member that will help us push through to make our deadlines on time.

Matthew-Matthew's CliftonStrengths strength is one of a maximizer. Matthew is a natural born leader, but he can also be trusted to rework a problem and make sure that the team gets back on track. In the event of a setback, I can trust that Matthew will redirect all efforts to finalizing the project efficiently.

Sheila-What Sheila brings to the team is her unique way of identifying risks and being able to formulate several plans of actions in the event our proposed plan goes awry. She is very strategic and focused but she also understands that we have to prepare for the unexpected-if our polypill doesn't deliver what it's supposed to for the patient, what will we need to do to make sure the patient is safe and that we can find another alternative.

References

dveneracion — 2025-01-22 21:06:49 UTC