Design and Characterization of a Novel Series of Geometrically Complex Intravaginal Rings with Digital Light Synthesis

Intravaginal rings (IVRs) represent a sustained-release approach to drug delivery and have long been used and investigated for hormones and microbicides delivery. For decades, IVRs have been manufactured by injection molding and hot-melt extrusion with very limited design and material capabilities. Additive manufacturing (AM), specifically digital light synthesis (DLS), represents an opportunity to harness the freedom of design to expand control and tunability of drug release properties from IVRs. A novel approach to IVR design and manufacturing is reported that results in geometrically complex internal architectures through the incorporation of distinct unit cells using computationally aided design (CAD) software. A systematic approach is developed to design through the generation of an IVR library and the effects of these parameters are investigated on ring properties. The ability to precisely and predictably control the compressive properties of the IVR independent of the internal architecture with which control of drug release kinetics can be achieved is demonstrated, thus opening the door for a plug-and-play platform approach to IVR fabrication.