Three-dimensional printing, a technology still in search of a market, may have just found a home in the world of medicine.
The US Food and Drug Administration approved an epilepsy medicine called Spritam that is made by 3D printers, making it the first 3D-printed product approved by FDA for use inside the human body.
Aprecia, the pharmaceutical company behind Spritam, says its new type of tablet is made by 3D-printing layers of the powdered drug, binding the layers of powder together, and then blowing away the excess. The drug’s unique structure allows it to dissolve considerably faster than the average pill, which as the news site 3DPrint points out “is a boon to seizure sufferers who often are prescribed large, hard-to-swallow pills.” While the quick-dissolving Spritam tablet is a world away from 3D-printed organs and body parts, its approval shows that the FDA thinks certain 3D-printed materials are safe for human consumption, reports qz.com.
