Skip The Pharmacy And Print Your Own Drugs Using a 3D Printer

in #health7 years ago

Who needs a pharmacy when you've got a 3D printer?

The potential of 3D printing technology continues to impress, with 3D printers out there that can now print cars, houses, body parts, hair, food, and a lot more.

One of the most promising spaces with this technology has been in the medical industry and whether that means using it to print braces, skin tissue, an artificial cornea, or prosthetics etc, there's plenty that can be done.

Now, researchers say that they might be able to use this technology to print drugs. For example, pharmacists and doctors might be able to employ this technology to stop outbreaks, because they are able to produce the drugs much faster.

Researchers have discovered a way to synthesize medicine by using 3D printing technology. They outfitted an existing 3D printer, that costs around $2,000, so that it could synthesize chemicals and they discovered that they could create pharmaceuticals from widely available starting compounds.

The process that they've come up with which they've been working on for several years now, detailed in the journal Science, could potentially enable anyone to produce their own drugs.

And this could really change things in the way of enabling people at home to create their own drugs, or by helping to address outbreaks etc as mentioned above. Not only that, but it could be greatly beneficial in helping to produce medications that are unique, exact specifications, and have been tailored to the specific individual patient and their needs.

It can provide a new way to create medicine that might have otherwise been too difficult to create using traditional production techniques that are currently available today.

Rather than having to ship medicine overseas, it could simply be printed at the needed location if they had the 3D printing technology.

Researchers warn of the risks that come along with this sort of freedom, just as they have warned about 3D printing technology enabling consumers to print their own weapons. For now, it's still a long way off from the market and there are many regulatory hoops to get through first before it could become a reality.

If it does make it to market, could it help to drastically reduce health costs in many ways? It's already helped some people to be able to save a lot by printing their own braces and a myriad of other helpful items. It's exciting to think about the potential for 3D printing and the many ways that it might be able to improve our standard of living, boosting efficiency for many different industry spaces.

Pics:
businesspost.ng
CNBC

Sources:
https://www.engadget.com/2018/01/22/3d-printers-reactionware-roll-your-own-drugs/
https://www.techspot.com/news/72866-researchers-have-discovered-way-synthesize-medicine-using-3d.html
http://www.pharmatimes.com/magazine/2018/janfeb/3d_printing_drugs_more_precise,_more_personalised
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/01/you-could-soon-be-manufacturing-your-own-drugs-thanks-3d-printing

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https://steemit.com/health/@doitvoluntarily/the-creative-potential-of-3d-printing

3D Printing Technology: Making It Faster and Cheaper

https://steemit.com/technology/@doitvoluntarily/3d-printing-technology-making-it-faster-and-cheaper

3D Printing An Object Using Just Your Mind

https://steemit.com/technology/@doitvoluntarily/3d-printing-an-object-using-just-your-mind

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Consumers printing their own pills? LOL What could possibly go wrong?

I suppose if the authorities heavily regulate the starting compounds, we won't have an outbreak of homemade designer pills flooding the streets, but even then, the implications of this kind of tech are mind-boggling.

ppl already now create a variety of garbage that not only hits the streets, but also even more so hits the shelves at your local pharmacy lol :) fear is always the go-to as a reason to limit freedom

Yea really. I have no faith in FDA approval...

The mind boggles to where 3D printing will go in the future, great article thanks mike

Great article, however I’m not so optimistic about printing medicine at home. This could as well end tragically. Live healthy, be healthy!
Anyway I definitely love 3D printing houses or any kind of objects. In China they actualy use 3D printer that build house.

Thats very interesting. I avoid medication generally. We get more harm than benefits from it.
Great post, thank you for sharing :)

unfortunately that is often the case isn't it

Another great post and good information! Thanks @doitvoluntarily!

Indeed a good idea. Taking money somewhat out of the equation would be welcomed but big pharma would not go for it no doubt. Good article and news.

This would be great to cut out big pharma, not sure they would like or even allow it, unless under licence at doctors local practices & hospitals, could you imagine having one at home? I would be making stuff I know would get me locked up :-)

haha
I can see it now, Print-N-Pop pill users

e's are good e's are good, he's Ebeneezer Goode, The Shamen springs to mind. :-)

Everybody be dealing drugs then:-)

No need to deal, print your own!

is this possible?

This will make universal health care even more possible.
@doitvoluntarily ,What's your view on 3D printed tissues?