The emerging role of 3D-printing in ocular drug delivery: Challenges, current status, and future prospects: 3D-Printing in Ocular Drug Delivery

The era of the 3D printing technique emerged in 1986. With the advancement of technology, 3D printing analysis has gained massive attention and become widely used in recent years. Modern medicine has needed new advancements to provide the best care, considering the increase in deadly diseases. Thus, 3D printing technology developed in 1986 is now being utilized to create personalized and high-quality dosage forms. There seems to be a surge in investigation towards using 3D printing technology for medical purposes such as prosthetics manufacturing, tissue engineering, and pharmaceutics, primarily, drug delivery. This new technology has enabled the production of pharmaceutical formulations upon demand, with variations in the configuration and dimensions influencing the product's release and dose behavior. Due to the wide variety and convenience of modifying the design and dose of the products, 3D printing would enable a wider acceptance of personalized medicine. This will allow devices to be created specifically for the individual, with the flexibility to change the active ingredients added to the creation. Worldwide the application of amalgamating ocular drug delivery and 3D printing in the market is huge, making an enormous impact in the field and worth exploring. The current review focuses on problems associated with conventional ocular drug delivery systems, 3D bioprinting, its different types and applications in ocular drug delivery, viz., corneal, and retinal printing, challenges, patents, and market trend analysis.