We herein disclose how global cyclodextrin-based pharmaceutical technologies have evolved since the early 80s through a 1998 patents dataset retrieved from Derwent Innovation Index. We used text-mining techniques based on the patents semantic content to extract the knowledge contained therein, to analyze technologies related to the principal attributes of CDs: solubility, stability, and taste-masking enhancement. The majority of CDs pharmaceutical technologies are directed toward parenteral aqueous solutions. The development of oral and ocular formulations is rapidly growing, while technologies for nasal and pulmonary routes are emerging and seem to be promising. Formulations for topical, transdermal, vaginal, and rectal routes do not account for a high number of patents, but they may be hiding a great potential, representing opportunity research areas. Certainly, the progress in materials sciences, supramolecular chemistry, and nanotechnology, will influence the trend of that, apparently neglected, research. The bottom line, CDs pharmaceutical technologies are still increasing, and this trend is expected to continue in the coming years. Patent monitoring allows the identification of relevant technologies and trends to prioritize research, development, and investment in both, academia and industry. We expect the scope of this approach to be applied in the pharmaceutical field beyond CDs technological applications.

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Purpose – The purpose of this study is to suggest the joint use of computer-aided design (CAD) and additive manufacturing (AM) technology for the fabrication of custom-made moulds, designed for the manufacture of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) implants for cranio-maxillofacial reconstruction to reduce their fabrication time. Even though tailor-made skull prostheses with a high technological level and state-of-the-art materials are available in the market, they are not always accessible to the general population in developing countries. Design/methodology/approach – Computed tomography data were handled to create a three-dimensional (3D) model of the injury of the patient, by reconstructing Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) images into an Standard Tessellation Language (STL) file that was further used to design the corresponding implant using CAD software. Accordingly, a two-piece core and cavity moulds that replicated the implant geometry was also CAD designed. The 3D-CAD data were sent to an AM machine (fused deposition modelling) and the moulds were fabricated using polycarbonate as thermoplastic material. A reacting mixture to produce PMMA was poured directly into the fabricated moulds, and left to polymerise until cure. Finally, a clear bubble-free case of study PMMA implant was obtained. Findings – The fabrication of CAD-designed moulds with AM, replacing the production of the injury model, resulted in the reduction of the lead-time in the manufacturing of PMMA around 45 per cent. Additionally, the implant showed better fit than the one produced by conventional process. The use of AM moulds for the fabrication of PMMA implants has demonstrated the reduction in lead-time, which potentially can reduce the waiting time for patients. Social implications – Currently, the demand of cranio-maxillofacial implants at only the Hospital General de México “Dr Eduardo Liceaga” (HGM) is 4,000 implants per year, and the average waiting time for each patient is between 5 and 10 weeks, including third-party services’ delays and the time needed to obtain the economical resources by the patient. Public hospitals in Mexico lack manufacturing facilities, so patients have to make use of laboratories abroad and most of the population have no access to them. The implementation of this suggested procedure in public hospitals may improve the accuracy of the implant, increase the number of patients attended per year (up to 83 per cent) and the reduction in waiting time can also reduce mortality and infection rates. Originality/value – The authors of this paper suggest the joint use of CAD and AM technologies to significantly reduce the production time of PMMA implants by producing moulds rather than the injury model, maintaining the general terms and known steps of the process already established for PMMA implants.

We present a data-driven approach to unveil the pharmaceutical technologies of cyclodextrins (CDs) by analyzing a dataset of CD pharmaceutical patents. First, we implemented network science techniques to represent CD patents as a single structure and provide a framework for unsupervised detection of keywords in the patent dataset. Guided by those keywords, we further mined the dataset to examine the patenting trends according to CD-based dosage forms. CD patents formed complex networks, evidencing the supremacy of CDs for solubility enhancement and how this has triggered cutting-edge applications based on or beyond the solubility improvement. The networks exposed the significance of CDs to formulate aqueous solutions, tablets, and powders. Additionally, they highlighted the role of CDs in formulations of anti-inflammatory drugs, cancer therapies, and antiviral strategies. Text-mining showed that the trends in CDs for aqueous solutions, tablets, and powders are going upward. Gels seem to be promising, while patches and fibers are emerging. Cyclodextrins’ potential in suspensions and emulsions is yet to be recognized and can become an opportunity area. This is the first unsupervised/supervised data-mining approach aimed at depicting a landscape of CDs to identify trending and emerging technologies and uncover opportunity areas in CD pharmaceutical research.

An easy mechanochemical and eco-friendly method was employed to obtain nanocrystals with an average size of about 9 nm of zinc ferrite (ZnFe 2 O 4 ) and copper ferrite (CuFe 2 O 4 ). Their corresponding X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns reveal a cubic crystal structure for ZnFe 2 O 4 , whereas in CuFe 2 O 4 the tetragonal and cubic crystal phases coexist, the latter being the majority phase. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of these nano ferrites corroborate the formation of nanocrystals with dimensions consistent with those obtained from the XRD patterns. Furthermore, their corresponding Raman spectra confirm the structure and composition of nano ferrites. In addition, both nano ferrites show an electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum with a wide band with g * 2.0, characteristic of ferromagnetic oxides. Besides, the antibacterial effect of ZnFe 2 O 4 and CuFe 2 O 4 nanocrystals against two opportunistic pathogens, Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 14,990) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 43,636), was tested. The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) results showed that ZnFe 2 O 4 was more effective against S. epidermidis, while CuFe 2 O 4 was for P. aeruginosa. On the other hand, when 27 mg/mL of nano ferrites were dispersed in the agar plates, the growth of S. epidermidis was 100% inhibited, whereas ZnFe 2 O 4 and CuFe 2 O 4 inhibited 67% and 78% of P. aeruginosa growth, respectively.