Creating Acceptable Tablets 3D (CAT 3D): A Feasibility Study to Evaluate the Acceptability of 3D Printed Tablets in Children and Young People



Bracken, Louise, Habashy, Rober, McDonough, Emma, Wilson, Fiona, Shakeshaft, Joanne, Ohia, Udeme, Garcia-Sorribes, Tamar, Isreb, Abdullah, Alhnan, Mohamed A and Peak, Matthew ORCID: 0000-0003-1909-3211
(2022) Creating Acceptable Tablets 3D (CAT 3D): A Feasibility Study to Evaluate the Acceptability of 3D Printed Tablets in Children and Young People. PHARMACEUTICS, 14 (3). 516-.

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Abstract

3D printing (3DP) has been proposed as a novel approach for personalising dosage forms for children and young people (CYP). Owing to its low cost and the lack of need for finishing steps, fused deposing modelling (FDM) 3DP has been heavily researched in solid dosage forms (SDFs) manufacturing. However, the swallowability and overall acceptability of 3D printed dosage forms are yet to be established. This work is the first to evaluate the acceptability of different sized 3D printed placebo SDFs in CYP (aged 4-12 years). All participants had previously participated in a feasibility study (CAT study) that assessed the swallowability and acceptability of different sized GMP manufactured placebo conventional film-coated tablets, and therefore only attempted to swallow one 3D printed tablet. The participants assessed the swallowability, acceptability, mouthfeel, volume of water consumed, and taste of the sample using a 5-point hedonic facial scale on a participant questionnaire. A total of 30 participants were recruited, 87% of whom successfully swallowed the 3D printed tablet that they attempted to take. Attributes of the 3D printed tablets were scored as acceptable by the following percentage of participants-swallowability (80%), mouthfeel/texture (87%), the volume of water consumed (80%), taste (93%), and overall acceptability (83%). Overall, 77% of children reported they would be happy to take the tablet every day if it was a medicine. Participants were also asked which tablets felt better in the mouth-the film-coated tablets or the 3D printed tablets, and the most popular response (43%) was that both were acceptable. This study shows that FDM-based 3D printed SDFs may be a suitable dosage form for children aged 4-12 years. The results from this feasibility study will be used to inform a larger, definitive study looking at the acceptability of 3D printed tablets in children.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: additive manufacturing, personalised medicine, patient-specific, age-appropriate, point-of-care manufacturing
Divisions: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Life Courses and Medical Sciences
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Clinical Directorate
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 10 Feb 2023 09:59
Last Modified: 10 Feb 2023 09:59
DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14030516
Open Access URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14030516
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3168321