# Comparative Formulation and Physicochemical Evaluation of Orodispersible Films Fabricated via Pneumatic and Syringe-Based 3D Printing

## TL;DR

Researchers compared two 3D printing methods to make fast-dissolving oral films, finding both effective for producing uniform, high-quality dosage forms.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates the viability of pneumatic and syringe-based 3D printing for reproducibly fabricating orodispersible films with desirable pharmaceutical properties.

## Key findings

- Both printing methods produced ODFs with consistent mechanical strength and rapid disintegration.
- Syringe-based printing offered higher dimensional precision, while pneumatic printing enabled faster fabrication.
- The ODFs met pharmaceutical standards for packaging and dissolution within 20 minutes.

## Abstract

Orodispersible films (ODF) blend the dose accuracy of solid dosage forms and the ease of administration of liquid dosage forms, hence offer many advantages. This study investigated the feasibility of two extrusion-based 3D printing techniques (pneumatic and syringe) to fabricate ODFs in a benchtop setting.

We fabricated fast-dissolving ODFs using pneumatic and syringe print heads and compared the variations in the process parameters, ease of fabrication, and characterized the properties of the final dosage forms. The variation in the printing parameters, drying time, drying temperature, and needle/nozzle types on the reproducibility and uniformity of the ODFs prepared from, these two printheads were studied. Feed materials for extrusion were selected based on rheological properties, printability, and reproducibility. An optimized ODF formulation composition was kept common and utilized for comparison.

The ODFs from pneumatic and syringe-based extrusion printheads consistently created bulk batches with little to no significant variation. Syringe-based extrusion showed high precision with identical dimensions, whereas pneumatic extrusion showed quick fabrication. The ODFs produced by both methods were highly reproducible and showed excellent film properties such as mechanical strength, disintegration, and dissolution. The ODFs showed adequate mechanical strength (>0.72 N/mm2) for packaging and transport. The disintegration time was less than a minute, and quicker dissolution within 20 min.

Both pneumatic and syringe-based 3D printing technologies are deemed to be potentially viable alternatives for the fabrication of personalized dosage forms such as ODFs in pharmacy and clinical settings.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11095-025-03967-4.