The University of Central Lancashire is set to develop customised medicines on demand, using additive manufacturing on a ‘3-D printer’.
The UCLan team says that the machine — which is awaiting a patent application — can ‘print’ a tablet containing the precise quantity of medicine required by an individual patient.
Dr Mohamed Albed Alhnan from UCLan’s School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences said: “3-D printing has been embraced by lots of different industries, but we have shown how this technology can be harnessed to improve medical care by providing low-cost, personally tailored medicines for patients.”
The new technology was made possible by a drug-polymer filament system (developed by Dr Alhnan’s team) that can replace the original filaments in a 3-D printer.
This new system allows the printer to replicate a complex tablet design, accurately matching dose and weight .
The UCLan team predicts that this system will be taken up by hospitals and pharmaceutical firms within the next five years — and by the public within 10 years.