The FDA has approved the first drug made by a 3D printer

3D 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 that the FDA has approved for use inside the human body.

Aprecia, the pharmaceutical company behind Spritam, says that 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 powder. 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. Aprecia also says 3D printing will allow doctors to know that the medicine they’re prescribing delivers the exact dose intended, as each pill will be completely uniform.

This could prove to be an important step for integrating 3D printing more deeply into the US health system. Doctors in the US already use a government-sponsored 3D-printing repository to share tool designs to aid in surgeries and treatments; now scientists are working on 3D-printed tracheas and bones, as well as ears, kidneys and skin—which could one day help cover the massive shortage in donor organs.

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.

Rather like 3D printing itself, this drug could be the base layer the technology slowly builds upon, perhaps generating future medical innovations.

source: The FDA has approved the first drug made by a 3D printer --QUARTZ

Comments

Nutcase Couple Hang From Cliff 2700ft Above Rio

While most people get a little bit worried about heights when climbing up a ladder, Leonardo Edson Pereira, 23, and his girlfriend Victoria Medeiros Nader, 18, are very different. In fact, after seeing images of the couple hanging off a 2,700 ft cliff in Rio, Brazil, it’s safe to say the couple pretty much break the mould when it comes to heights and being daredevils. Pereira took his girlfriend with him on his latest thrill seeking adventure, with Pedra de Gavea their conquest this time. The images really are breathtaking and depict just one of the many times Pereira has climbed the Pedra de Gavea. He claimed: "I love living on the edge! I know people think it’s dangerous and crazy but it makes me feel alive,’ Leonardo says. It is really high and I do just hang on using my arm strength. I have to trust myself not to fall." The literal translation of the rock’s name means ‘Rock of the Topsail’, and while the images certainly are something, given ...

EARTH FACTS

Earth is the third planet from the Sun and is the largest of the terrestrial planets. The Earth is the only planet in our solar system not to be named after a Greek or Roman deity. The Earth was formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago and is the only known planet to support life. Planet Profile Mass: 5,972,190,000,000,000 billion kg Equatorial Diameter: 12,756 km Polar Diameter: 12,714 km Equatorial Circumference: 40,030 km Known Moons: 1 Notable Moons: The Moon Orbit Distance: 149,598,262 km (1 AU) Orbit Period: 365.26 Earth days Surface Temperature: -88 to 58°C Size Of The Earth Compared To The Moon Facts About The Earth The Earth’s rotation is gradually slowing: This deceleration is happening almost imperceptibly, at approximately 17 milliseconds per hundred years, although the rate at which it occurs is not perfectly uniform. This has the effect of lengthening our days, but it happens so slowly that it could be as much as 140 million years before the l...

What Is The Largest Number?

Humans have been using numbers for thousands of years. It is believed that the concept of numbers first originated when prehistoric humans began using their fingers to count. This eventually evolved into sign language and then tally marks on objects like sand, walls and sticks. We’ve come a long way. Now we use calculators and computers to count our large numbers. We even have a word for numbers that are without a limit. Sometimes, it seems like the only people who can make sense of it all are the mathematical savants. One reader wanted to know: What is the largest number in mathematics? NOT SO OBVIOUS So what’s the largest number? The answer should be pretty obvious. Infinity, right? But that’s not entirely correct. Infinity in the strictest sense, is not a number at all. It’s a concept. An idea. And a mind bending one at that. Infinity is a concept which means “a quantity without bound or end”. The definition of infinity in mathematics states that no matter how big a nu...

BIONBIT

Search This Blog