Inkjet printability of Celecoxib drug solutions

Abstract Inkjet printing is a versatile tool for the precise positioning of droplets that is used in many application areas such as 3D printing, biotechnology or pharmacy. This work focused on comparing the inkjet printability of different drug solutions of celecoxib (CLX), a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, to produce drug depots in medical implants. CLX was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) and a mixture of DMSO and PEGDA in a ratio of 1:1. The pure solvents and the drug solutions were inkjet printed using a Nanoplotter 2.1 with the NanoTip J printhead (GeSiM mbH, Radeberg, Germany). The voltage was varied from 60 V to 150 V using a step size of 5 V. Droplet volume and the trajectory of the droplets were investigated. For DMSO, DMSO-CLX, DMSO-PEGDA and DMSOPEGDA- CLX, reproducible droplet formation occurred with a droplet volume of approximately 300 pl - 500 pl and not more than one satellite droplet in a voltage range between 60 V to 80 V. Inkjet printing of PEGDA and PEGDA-CLX was not reproducible in the range of 60 V to 150 V. DMSO, DMSOPEGDA, DMSO-CLX and DMSO-PEGDA-CLX showed a high inkjet printability. In contrast, inkjet printability of PEGDA and PEGDA-CLX was very limited.