Advances in Loading Techniques and Quality by Design for Fused Deposition Modeling in Pharmaceutical Production: A Systematic Review

Background/Objectives: Three-dimensional printing technology has emerging interest in pharmaceutical manufacturing, offering new opportunities for personalized medicine and customized drug delivery systems. Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is highly regarded in the pharmaceutical industry because of its cost effectiveness, easy operation, and versatility in creating pharmaceutical dosage forms. This review investigates different methods of incorporating active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) into filament matrices for use in fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing. Methods: Two electronic databases, the Web of Science and PubMed, were utilized to survey the literature. The selected keywords for this review were as follows: fused filament fabrication OR fused deposition modeling OR FDM OR FFF AND 3D printing AND loading techniques OR impregnation techniques AND solid dosage form. Results: This paper evaluates various loading techniques such as soaking, supercritical impregnation, microwave impregnation, and hot-melt extrusion, focusing on their effectiveness and capacity for drug incorporation. Additionally, this review includes a thorough risk assessment of the extrusion process using Ishikawa and SWOT analyses. Conclusions: Overall, this review provides comprehensive insights into the latest advancements in 3D printing for pharmaceutical applications and identifies key areas for future research and development.