Phase-Field Model for Drug Release of Water-Swellable Filaments for Fused Filament Fabrication

Abstract

This paper treats the drug release process as a phase-field problem and a phase-field model capable of simulating the dynamics of multiple moving fronts, transient drug fluxes, and fractional drug release from swellable polymeric systems is proposed and validated experimentally. The model can not only capture accurately the positions and movements of the distinct fronts without tracking the locations of fronts explicitly but also predict well the release profile to the completion of the release process. The parametric study has shown that parameters including water diffusion coefficient, drug saturation solubility, drug diffusion coefficient, initial drug loading ratio, and initial porosity are critical in regulating the drug release kinetics. It has been also demonstrated that the model can be applied to the study of swellable filaments and has wide applicability for different materials. Due to explicit boundary position tracking being eliminated, the model paves the way for practical use and can be extended for dealing with geometrically complex drug delivery systems. It is a useful tool to guide the design of new controlled delivery systems fabricated by fused filament fabrication.

A novel microfluidic tool for the evaluation of local drug delivery systems in simulated in vivo conditions

“…Similar results have been reported in literature and according to Li et al , higher drug loading leads to a longer release profile, due to a reduction of porosity. 46 Porosity is a finite volume and once saturated the release profile will no longer be impacted. This can be verified after examination of our samples with SEM (Fig.…”

Design and fused deposition modeling of triply periodic minimal surface scaffolds with channels and hydrogel for breast reconstruction

“…Fused deposition modeling (FDM), the most common 3D printing technology, can rapidly build complex 3D structures through layer-by-layer deposition of thermoplastic materials[ 11 - 14 ]. Due to its rapidity, personalized customization, flexibility, and low cost, it is widely adopted in breast tissue engineering for fabricating geometrically complex scaffolds to better mimic the intrinsic complexities of native tissue[ 2 , 15 , 16 ].…”

Development of pH-Responsive Polypills via Semi-Solid Extrusion 3D Printing

“…3D printing technology is adopted broadly to fabricate personalised drug delivery systems due to its geometrical flexibility and multi-material printing feature, enabling drugs to be delivered over tailored release profiles [ 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Semi-solid extrusion (SSE), a material extrusion 3D printing method, has been adopted for manufacturing personalised drug delivery systems due to its low printing temperature and high drug loading capacity [ 22 ]; however, the printability of the material remains an issue, and high printing accuracy is challenging to be achieved [ 23 ].…”