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from the printed-on-fun-backgrounds dept.
By adapting a technology used to build electronic components, researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a new way to manufacture medication. The technique could eventually allow hospitals, pharmacies and doctor's offices to print drugs on demand, mixing different medications into one easy-to-administer dose.
[...] This latest technique was adapted from organic vapor-jet printing, a method of manufacturing electronics by depositing fine crystals of a material onto a substrate surface. To print their medication, the Michigan researchers heated a powdered form of the active pharmaceutical ingredient until it evaporated, where it then combines with a heated inert gas. That mixture is then funnelled through a nozzle and deposited onto a chilled surface, where it cools to form a thin crystalline film.
[...] In the long run, the technique could also allow medications to be mixed and matched, before being printed on-site in pharmacies and hospitals onto a delivery device like a dissolvable strip or microneedle patch.
[...] The research was published in the journal Nature Communications.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday September 29 2017, @01:59PM
Wouldn't each type of drug be a different type of filament strip fed into the printer? Or would they be more like inkjet cartridges?
Couldn't you simply order the filaments / cartridges you are interested in, even if you don't need to refuel your 3D printer?
Now if only the printer could be programed to print only drug combinations that are known to have adverse interactions. Hackers could hack the firmware to avoid drug combinations with known adverse interactions. Or vice versa. And government TLAs could get involved.
Customized SOMA to keep everyone pacified and happy.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.