Scientists at theUniversity of Texas at Austin’sPharmaceutical Engineering and 3D Printing (PharmE3D) Labs have gained US federal backing to create custom additive manufactured birth control devices.
使用内部开发的3D打印技术，Pharme3D的一支团队正在磨练一种为商业宫内设备（IUD）提供个性化替代品的方法，这些替代品是有效但有时痛苦的女性避孕药。
被授予美国国际发展局(USAID) funding to further the development of these IUDs, the researchers now hope to roll them out on a wider scale, improving women in developing countries’ access to contraceptives, while minimizing the “debilitating side effects” of their insertion.
该大学分子药物和药物分类部的助理教授Mo Maniruzzaman博士说：“这份美国国际开发署赠款有可能对发展中国家的妇女生殖健康产生重大影响。”“我们与Conrad和EVMS的合作在进一步开发3D印刷技术方面富有成果，以解决全球健康问题和医疗保健的访问。”
IUDs: a problematic contraceptive?
According to the PharmE3D team, IUDs are one of the most effective contraceptives available, as they have “higher continual use rates” than other birth control methods. This assertion is certainly backed by statistics, withStatista避孕数据可以追溯到2019年，这表明宫内节育器是预防世界上生殖时代妇女构想的第三种方法。
Of all the IUDs available, the most common in the US is a brand calledParaGard,唯一的无激素的设备available in the country. In practice, the contraceptive is implanted into a woman’s uterus, where once installed, it releases copper ions that reduce the mobility and viability of sperm, thus preventing conception from occurring.
As an added benefit, the presence of such devices is said to lead to the accumulation of polymorphonuclear lymphocytes in the uterus and affect cervical mucus in a way that boosts their efficacy, but they don’t tend to change womens’ menstrual frequency.
On the contrary, commercial IUDs often lead to increased menstrual flow, causing cramping and discomfort among those that have undergone insertion. While the level of this pain can vary in intensity, it sometimes reaches a point that women ditch their IUDs altogether, and the PharmE3D team claim that 10-13% of all users remove them within a year.
Pharme3d’s 3D printed alternative
In an effort to further improve the efficacy of IUDs, as well as reduce the suffering of those that adopt them, the PharmE3D team has begun developing an additive manufactured alternative. Although the researchers haven’t disclosed the exact technology behind the project, they have revealed that it’s an “optimized 3D printing process” which personalizes IUDs to lessen discomfort upon their insertion.
The research is being carried out alongside theContraceptive Research and Developmentor ‘CONRAD’ organization, which works to improve the reproductive health of women across the globe. Since being established by USAID andEastern Virginia Medical Schoolin 1986, CONRAD has become a pioneer in the R&D of low-cost, safe and noninvasive HIV prevention methods as well as contraceptives.
Pharme3D团队与该小组合作，现在旨在完善自己的宫内节育器的设计，然后再进行部署以改善世界各地女性的长期，有效避孕的机会。获得了美国国际开发署的支持后，它可能已经迈出了重要的一步，因为该机构是同类机构之一，并且负责美国所有外国援助支出的50％以上。
AM in advancing womens’ health
3D printing may not be utilized regularly in the world of clinical contraceptive production, but it has been deployed as an effective means of addressing womens’ health issues multiple times before. Late last year, researchers at theUniversity of DebrecenandSzeged大学开发novel drug-filled vaginal ring, designed to provide women with a more accessible way of treating infections.
Similarly, scientists atHenan University和Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicinehave previously come up with定制3D印刷阴道药。利用融合细丝制造（FFF）系统，该团队能够产生自己的阴道环，尽管这些戒指旨在治疗更年期症状而不是感染。
就避孕药具而言，一个团队Massachusetts Institute of Technology还在2018年末开发了迷你设备，有可能用作3D打印的避孕药。Known as ‘gastric resident electronics,’ these tablets are designed to sit in the stomach and sense the body’s response to infections or medications, but it was thought at the time that they could administer drugs as well.
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Featured image shows some of the scientists behind the PharmE3D IUD 3D printing project. Photo via the University of Texas at Austin.
