Researchers Discover Breakthrough Drug Delivery Method By Changing Shape of Pill

Posted by timothy on Sunday May 10, 2015 @03:35AM from the in-your-face dept.

ErnieKey writes: Researchers at the UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London have found a way to change the rate of dissolution within medication via a 3D printing method. Researchers used MakerBot's water- soluble filament, cut it into tiny pieces and mixed in acetaminophen. They then used the Filabot extruder to extrude a drug infused filament. With this filament they printed odd shaped pills and tested them to see what effect different shapes had on the speed at which they dissolved. What they concluded was that these odd shaped pills allowed for different rates of absorption, enabling custom medications for patients.

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Surface area to volume by Anonymous Coward · 2015-05-10 03:39 · Score: 5, Insightful

Surface area to volume ratio found to affect rate of dissolution, details at 11.
Re:What?! by penguinoid · 2015-05-10 08:22 · Score: 3, Insightful

They kept the surface area constant between the shapes.
Doesn't matter since the relative surface areas will change as it dissolves.

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