3D-printing: an emerging and a revolutionary technology in pharmaceuticals

One of the novel and progressive technology employed in pharmaceutical manufacturing, design of medical device and tissue engineering is three-dimensional (3D) printing. 3D printing technologies provide great advantages in 3D scaffolds fabrication over traditional methods in the control of pore size, porosity, and interconnectivity. Various techniques of 3D-printing include powder bed fusion, fused deposition modeling, binder deposition, inkjet printing, photopolymerization and many others which are still evolving. 3D-printing technique been employed in developing immediate release products, various systems to deliver multiple release modalities etc. 3D printing has opened the door for new generation of customized drug delivery with built-in flexibility for safer and effective therapy. Our mini-review provides a quick snapshot on an overview of 3D printing, various techniques employed, applications and its advancements in pharmaceutical sciences.