Page 524 - IJB-10-4

International

Journal of Bioprinting

RESEARCH ARTICLE
Development of novel skin-mimetic substrate

with 3D printing to assess the adhesion
properties of transdermal patches

Arvind Bagde , Keb Mosley-Kellum , Oluwaseyi Salau , Satyanarayan Dev * ,
1†
1
1†
2 id
Nisarg Modi , and Mandip Singh *
3
1 id
1 Pharmaceutical Sciences Department, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
2 Biological Systems Engineering, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Florida A&M University,
Tallahassee, Florida, USA
3 Research and Development Department, Transdermal Research Pharm Laboratories, Inc., Long
Island City, New York, USA

Abstract

Transdermal system (TDS) patches, a long-standing product in the market, still
grapple with issues of secure skin adherence, efficacy, and safety. Hence, there
is a pressing need to study factors affecting TDS patch adhesion on skin-mimetic
† These authors contributed equally substrates to enhance reliability and reduce reliance on extensive in vivo testing. The
to this work.
present study aims to develop novel skin-mimetic substrates with fused deposition
*Corresponding authors: modeling (FDM)-based three-dimensional (3D) printing using materials with similar
Mandip Singh surface energy as the skin and evaluating the adhesion property of pressure-
(mandip.sachdeva@famu.edu)
Satyanarayan Dev sensitive adhesives (PSAs). Additionally, the study investigates the effect of various
(satyanarayan.dev@famu.edu) intrinsic factors, including coat weight, elastic properties of backing membranes,
and viscosity of PSAs, on the adhesion properties of PSAs. We successfully fabricated
Citation: Bagde A,

Mosley-Kellum K, Salau O, Dev S, our novel polypropylene (PP) probe using FDM printing and implemented an
Modi N, Singh M. Development of automated robotic arm setup for adhesion testing. Probe tack test results displayed

novel skin-mimetic substrate with no significant difference in peak adhesive force between the skin and PP probes.
3D printing to assess the adhesion
properties of transdermal patches. However, PP probes exhibited a 10.26-fold decrease (p < 0.0001) in the adhesive
Int J Bioprint. 2024;10(4):3735. force compared to stainless steel (SS) probes. Probe tack and peel adhesion tests of
doi: 10.36922/ijb.3735 the marketed Salonpas patch also displayed a significant decrease (p < 0.0001) in
Received: May 22, 2024 the adhesive force for PP probes/plates compared to SS probes/plates. In terms of
Accepted: June 14, 2024 coating, both amine-compatible (PSA-4302) and non-amine-compatible (PSA-4501)
Published Online: August 13, 2024 silicone-based PSAs displayed a significant increase in their adhesion properties at
2
2
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). 10 mg/cm compared to 5 mg/cm coating (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the selection
This is an Open Access article of backing membrane and the viscosity of silicone-based PSAs also demonstrated
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution a significant (p < 0.0001) effect on the PSA’s adhesion property. In conclusion, PP
License, permitting distribution, probes/plates could be a promising approach for in vitro adhesion testing of
and reproduction in any medium, transdermal system (TDS) products. Furthermore, intrinsic properties, including coat
provided the original work is
properly cited. weight and viscosity of silicone-based PSAs, could significantly affect the adhesion
properties of TDS products.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Keywords: 3D printing; Transdermal; Adhesion; Tack test; Peel adhesion;
affiliations. Skin-mimetic substrate

Volume 10 Issue 4 (2024) 516 doi: 10.36922/ijb.3735