The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has, for the first time, approved a drug that uses 3D printing technology, paving the way for potential customisation of drugs to suit patients' needs.
The drug, made by privately held Aprecia Pharmaceuticals, was approved for oral use as a prescription adjunctive therapy in the treatment of epilepsy, the company said yesterday.
Spritam uses Aprecia's "ZipDose" technology, a delivery system that creates premeasured doses which disintegrate in the mouth with a sip of liquid.
3D printing could help companies make products "to the specifications of an individual patient rather than [take a] one-size-fits-all kind of approach," says Wedbush Securities analyst Tao Levy.
3D printers help make products by layering material until a three-dimensional object is created.
In the healthcare industry, these printers are used by dentists to create replicas of jaws and teeth as well as some finished dental implants, and orthopaedic surgeons have tested them to make customised hip replacements.
British scientists have also used 3D printing to create personalised replica models of cancerous parts of the body to allow doctors to target tumours more precisely.
$2.5k chicken leg
Meanwhile, one Massachusetts chicken is about to get a costly leg up on life - a $2 500 prosthetic limb made on a 3D printer.
The chicken, named Cicely, is headed into surgery tomorrow for the start of a first-of-its-kind procedure to fit her with an artificial limb, her owner, Andrea Martin of Black Thistle Farm, said yesterday.
Cicely, three months old, was born with a torn tendon in her right leg that limits her mobility. When Martin took her to Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine to be examined last week she was given two choices - a prosthetic or euthanasia.
"It was a no-brainer," Martin said in a phone interview. "She needs to be able to live a normal life."
Martin's Boston farm specialises in chicken rehabilitation and this isn't the first time she has splurged on surgery. One of her hens had a hysterectomy last year that cost $3 000.
"Anytime you do surgery on a bird, it's a risk," she said. "But I am optimistic. I think this will make her very happy. It's worth it."
When Cicely goes into surgery tomorrow, Dr Emi Knafo will amputate her right leg. She will then run a CT-scan on Cicely's left leg, to be used for a 3D printed prosthetic. The chicken will be sent home to rest for two weeks, before returning to Tufts for her fitting.
Similar surgeries have been performed on other creatures, but Knafo said she believed it was the first time it has been attempted on a chicken.
Martin said she hopes to write a children's book about the experience, once Cicely is healed.
"She needs to tell her story," Martin said.
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