Cereal-Based 3D Printed Dosage Forms for Drug Administration During Breakfast in Pediatric Patients within a Hospital Setting.

In an effort to combine a child-friendly dosage form for medication administration in hospitalized pediatric patients and a user-friendly automated process for its preparation by health-care providers, the current study proposes a method for drug administration with breakfast using semi-solid extrusion 3D printing. Cereal was used as the platform carrier of the hydrophobic ibuprofen and the hydrophilic paracetamol to develop the drug loaded cereal ink. Rheological analysis was performed to identify the cereal ink with optimum viscosity for extrusion printing. Drug distribution and crystallinity within the printed cereal were assessed with confocal Raman microscopy and thermal and X-ray diffraction analysis, respectively, indicating molecular dispersion of both drugs within the cereal. High cereal porosity was associated with a higher milk absorption capacity and a decrease in their flexural force upon immersion in milk. Dissolution studies were performed in biorelevant media under fasted and fed state conditions and in the presence of full-fat and low-fat milk showing dissolution enhancement of the poorly soluble ibuprofen in the presence of the higher fat content milk. Concealing drug administration under the auspice of this essential daily eating habit is expected to facilitate overcoming adherence barriers to medication intake by pediatric patients within a hospital setting.