Date of Award

12-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Materials Science and Engineering

Committee Chair/Advisor

Dr. O. Thompson Mefford

Committee Member

Dr. M. Aaron Vaughn

Committee Member

Dr. Igor Luzinov

Committee Member

Dr. Philip Brown

Abstract

Vat polymerization (VP) 3D printing has recently emerged as a potential method to fabricate patient specific drug delivery devices. The unique advantage of VP 3D printing is the ability to print complex geometries with high resolution and intricate details that can offer a high level of control of drug release kinetics. Despite this, the toxic nature of the photoreactive resins used in the process has limited the exploration of VP in drug delivery applications. Recent developments in biocompatible and biodegradable resins for VP 3D printing have expanded the applicability of VP in fabricating devices suitable for controlled and targeted drug delivery. However, there is a technical gap in the utility of these materials to fabricate controlled drug delivery devices. The study described herein aims to bridge this gap by presenting an investigation of the different factors that influence drug release from biodegradable devices 3D printed with VP.

This included an investigation on the effect of drug physicochemical properties such as water solubility and resin solubility on the fabrication and drug release performance of 3D-printed cylindrical devices. It was shown that molar absorptivity light absorption characteristics of the drugs at photopolymerization wavelength had a significant effect on the printability of the resulting devices and the solubility of the drugs in the resin had an impact on their release. Next, the effect of modifying geometric parameters such as surface area to volume ratio, beam diameter and pore-size on long-term controlled release was investigated. The results revealed that print geometry affected the degradation of devices, and long-term controlled release of a model drug could be achieved by modifying print geometry. The effect of polymer structure and composition of the photoreactive resin on the crosslinking density and hydrophilicity of the resulting 3D printed device was then investigated. These changes in properties were then related to changes in drug release. Finally, the effect of drug-polymer interactions on drug release was investigated. The insights obtained from these studies provide a better understanding of how VP 3D printing with biodegradable polymer resins can be applied towards the engineering of long term controlled release from clinically relevant devices.

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