Designing and making an open source, 3D-printed, punctal plug with drug delivery system

Abstract

With the advancement in the study of keratoconjunctivitis sicca and the scope of its treatment, punctal plugs are being widely used for the therapeutic management of dry eye disease. With the emergence of 3D printing in medicine, 3D printing of punctal plugs that have an inbuilt drug delivery system and also that can be personalized from patient to patient according to their punctum size can be a great therapeutic option. Another benefit of the device is that its printing takes a short period of time and is cost-effective. This study aimed at making an open source design and 3D printing an efficient model of a punctal plug with an inbuilt drug delivery system that can be eventually used for the treatment of various ocular diseases that require frequent drug instillation or blockage of the nasolacrimal pathway. The 3D design for the punctal plug was made using the open source application, FreeCAD, and slicing was done using the application ChituBox. After that, the plugs were printed using the LCD printer Crealty LD-002R. The material used was resin that was compatible with the Crealty LD-002R. Punctal plugs with satisfactory results were printed using the LCD printer. The punctal plugs showed suitable structure and were also easily reproduced in the 3D printer without any complications or setbacks.

Towards Precision Ophthalmology: The Role of 3D Printing and Bioprinting in Oculoplastic Surgery, Retinal, Corneal, and Glaucoma Treatment

“…In essence, there exist great opportunities for 3D printing in various non-surgical aspects of ocular disease. However, as of now, the majority remain developmental [ 52 , 53 ] in vivo [ 54 , 55 ], or simply case studies [ 51 , 53 ]. As novel research on the topic of 3D printing in ocular disease continues to emerge, large-scale clinical studies to properly depict the outcomes of such new technology remain important.…”

“…Furthermore, this study differentiates itself from others by underlying the fact that a standard, universal apparatus design may sometimes be more beneficial than custom-fitted ones. In dry eye disease, 3D-printed punctal plugs have been studied to treat dry eyes while simultaneously delivering drugs and increasing patient compliance compared to traditional topical drugs [53,54]. Xu et al (2021) studied a 3D-printed drug-loaded punctal plug in vivo, which showed extended release characteristics and the absence of drug-photopolymer interaction when using dexamethasone and polyethylene glycol [54].…”

Extrusion-Based Additive Manufacturing-Driven Design and Testing of the Snapping Interlocking Metasurface Mechanism ShroomLock

“…Back in the days of this work, the definition solely addressed computer software. However, nowadays, the term is much broader and includes additional areas such as open-source hardware [6][7][8], open innovation [8,9], and the increasing use of CAD models in the three-dimensional; (3D) printing community [10,11]. One of the major advantages of the open-source 3D printing community is an economic way of producing individual and customized products, which can lead to the sustainable development of ideas, projects, and, therefore, manufacturable items [4,12].…”