TY - JOUR

T1 - Personalised urethra pessaries prepared by material extrusion-based additive manufacturing

AU - Spoerk, Martin

AU - Arbeiter, Florian

AU - Koutsamanis, Ioannis

AU - Cajner, Hrvoje

AU - Katschnig, Matthias

AU - Eder, Simone

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) as part of the PolyPrint project (Grant Agreement 872984 ). Special thanks go to Anja Gosch for assistance in the filament tensile tests, to Christof Lichal for help in the CAD drawings and processing the 3D-printed pessaries and to Dr. Petra Spörk-Erdely for fruitful discussions. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2021/10/25

Y1 - 2021/10/25

N2 - Material extrusion-based additive manufacturing, commonly referred to as 3D-printing, is regarded as the key technology to pave the way for personalised medical treatment. This study explores the technique’s potential in customising vaginal inserts with complex structures, so-called urethra pessaries. A novel, flawlessly 3D-printable and biocompatible polyester-based thermoplastic elastomer serves as the feedstock. Next to the smart selection of the 3D-printing parameters cross-sectional diameter and infill to tailor the pessary’s mechanical properties, we elaborate test methods accounting for its application-specific requirements for the first time. The key property, i.e. the force the pessary exerts on the urethra to relief symptoms of urinary incontinence, is reliably adjusted within a broad range, including that of the commercial injection-moulded silicone product. The pessaries do not change upon long-term exposure to vaginal fluid simulant and compression (in-vivo conditions), satisfying the needs of repeated pessary use. Importantly, the vast majority of the 3D-printed pessaries allows for self-insertion and self-removal without any induced pessary rupture. Summarising, 3D-printed pessaries are not only a reasonable alternative to the commercial products, but build the basis to effectively treat inhomogeneous patient groups. They make the simple but very effective pessary therapy finally accessible to every woman.

AB - Material extrusion-based additive manufacturing, commonly referred to as 3D-printing, is regarded as the key technology to pave the way for personalised medical treatment. This study explores the technique’s potential in customising vaginal inserts with complex structures, so-called urethra pessaries. A novel, flawlessly 3D-printable and biocompatible polyester-based thermoplastic elastomer serves as the feedstock. Next to the smart selection of the 3D-printing parameters cross-sectional diameter and infill to tailor the pessary’s mechanical properties, we elaborate test methods accounting for its application-specific requirements for the first time. The key property, i.e. the force the pessary exerts on the urethra to relief symptoms of urinary incontinence, is reliably adjusted within a broad range, including that of the commercial injection-moulded silicone product. The pessaries do not change upon long-term exposure to vaginal fluid simulant and compression (in-vivo conditions), satisfying the needs of repeated pessary use. Importantly, the vast majority of the 3D-printed pessaries allows for self-insertion and self-removal without any induced pessary rupture. Summarising, 3D-printed pessaries are not only a reasonable alternative to the commercial products, but build the basis to effectively treat inhomogeneous patient groups. They make the simple but very effective pessary therapy finally accessible to every woman.

KW - 3D-printing

KW - Personalised medicine

KW - Tailored mechanical properties

KW - Urethra pessary

KW - Urinary incontinence

KW - Vaginal inserts

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115622344&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2021.121112

DO - 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2021.121112

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85115622344

VL - 608.2021

JO - International Journal of Pharmaceutics

JF - International Journal of Pharmaceutics

SN - 0378-5173

IS - 25 October

M1 - 121112

ER -