Selective Laser Sintering 3D Printing of Drug-Loaded Intravitreal Implants

Abstract

Frequent intravitreal injections are the standard treatment for chronicretinal diseases, but they are costly and inconvenient and carry potentialcomplications. Intravitreal implants have emerged as an alternative approachcapable of delivering sustained drug levels over extended periods. However,current implant manufacturing techniques, predominantly extrusion-based,present limitations when processing labile drugs. In this study, biodegradableimplants are introduced, fabricated via selective laser sintering (SLS)3D printing to achieve extended, controlled release of dexamethasone andriboflavin. By adjusting laser scanning speeds, diverse release profiles over7 months are generated, after which the implant matrix fully degrades in therelease medium. SEM-EDX and Raman spectroscopy confirmed uniform drugdistribution in the implant, while XRPD, FTIR, and DSC analyses indicated thatthe drugs remained stable postmanufacturing. Additionally, investigationswith ARPE-19 retinal cell cultures demonstrated excellent cytocompatibilityof the implant. Overall, the findings confirm that SLS 3D printing isa promising approach for manufacturing intravitreal implants. This techniquenot only offers compatibility with a wide range of pharmaceutical compoundsbut also enables the tailoring of drug release by controlling the porosityof the implant. Consequently, SLS-based implants may improve patientoutcomes by reducing injection frequency and associated complications.