Kulpesh Kumar Dubey,
Akanksha Dwivedi,
G.N. Darwhekar,
- Student, Department of Pharmaceutics, Acropolis Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
- Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutics, Acropolis Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
- Principal, Department of Pharmacy, Acropolis Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
Abstract
Four-dimensional printing technology has transformed the pharmaceutical landscape, offering unprecedented opportunities for innovation in drug development and delivery. This emerging technology enables the creation of complex geometries and customized structures, facilitating the design of personalized medications tailored to individual patient needs. Personalized dosing and drug release profiles, customized pill shapes and sizes for improved swallowability. Enhanced drug solubility and bioavailability, rapid prototyping and testing of pharmaceutical products. Development of complex drug delivery systems such as implants and microneedles. Improved patient compliance through customized medication regimens, reduced production costs, and increased efficiency. Enhanced drug stability and self-life, potential for localized and targeted drug delivery. This study explores the current state of four-dimensional printing in pharmaceuticals, highlighting its benefits, challenges, and future directions. The integration of four-dimensional printing technology has the potential to revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry, transforming the way drugs are designed, manufactured, and delivered. Development of four-dimensional printing polymeric materials and technology.
Keywords: 4D printing, pharmaceuticals, personalized medicine, drug development, drug delivery, smart materials, shape memory polymer
[This article belongs to Trends in Drug Delivery ]
Kulpesh Kumar Dubey, Akanksha Dwivedi, G.N. Darwhekar. 4D Printing in Drug Delivery: Application of Shape- Morphing Materials in Controlled Drug Release. Trends in Drug Delivery. 2025; 12(03):08-16.
Kulpesh Kumar Dubey, Akanksha Dwivedi, G.N. Darwhekar. 4D Printing in Drug Delivery: Application of Shape- Morphing Materials in Controlled Drug Release. Trends in Drug Delivery. 2025; 12(03):08-16. Available from: https://journals.stmjournals.com/tdd/article=2025/view=236151
References
1. Shin DG, Kim TH, Kim DE. Review of 4D printing materials and their properties. Int J Precis Eng Manuf-Green Technol. 2017;4:349–57.
2. Li YC, Zhang YS, Akpek A, Shin SR, Khademhosseini A. 4D bioprinting: The next-generation technology for biofabrication enabled by stimuli-responsive materials. Biofabrication. 2017;9:012001.
3. Tibbits S. 4D printing: Multi-material shape change. Archit Des. 2014;84(1):116–21.
4. Su JW, Tao X, Deng H, Zhang C, Jiang S, Lin Y, Lin J. 4D printing of a self-morphing polymer driven by a swellable guest medium. Soft Matter. 2018;14:765–72.
5. Zhou J, Sheiko SS. Reversible shape-shifting in polymeric materials. J Polym Sci B Polym Phys. 2016;54:1365–80.
6. Chen JY, Hwang JV, Ao-Ieong WS, Lin YC, Hsieh YK, Cheng YL, Wang J. Study of physical and degradation properties of 3D-printed biodegradable, photocurable copolymers, PGSA-co-PEGDA and PGSA-co-PCLDA. Polymers (Basel). 2018;10:1263.
7. Piedade AP. 4D printing: The shape-morphing in additive manufacturing. J Funct Biomater. 2019;10:9.
8. Yang GH, Yeo M, Koo YW, Kim GH. 4D bioprinting: Technological advances in biofabrication. Macromol Biosci. 2019;19:1800441.
9. Zhou Y, Huang WM, Kang SF, Wu XL, Lu HB, Fu J, Cui H. From 3D to 4D printing: Approaches and typical applications. J Mech Sci Technol. 2015;29:4281–8.
10. Raviv D, Zhao W, McKnelly C, Papadopoulou A, Kadambi A, Shi B, et al. Active printed materials for complex self-evolving deformations. Sci Rep. 2014;4:7422.
11. Tibbits S. 4D printing: Multi-material shape change. Archit Des. 2014;84(1):116–21.
12. Hann SY, Cui H, Esworthy T, Zhou X, Plesniak MW, Zhang LG. 4D printing soft robotics for biomedical applications. Addit Manuf. 2020;36:101567.
13. Gibson IG. Additive Manufacturing Technologies: 3D Printing, Rapid Prototyping, and Direct Digital Manufacturing. New York: Springer; 2015.
14. Tibbits S. The Emergence of “4D Printing” [Internet]. TED Talk; 2013.
15. Lee AY, An J, Chua CK. Two-way 4D printing: A review on the reversibility of 3D-printed shape memory materials. Engineering (Beijing). 2017;3:663–74.
16. Pérez B, Nykvist H, Brøgger AF, Larsen MB, Falkeborg MF. Impact of macronutrients printability and 3D-printer parameters on 3D-food printing: A review. Food Chem. 2019;287:249–57.
17.Chen Z, Li Z, Li J, Liu C, Lao C, Fu Y, et al. 3D printing of ceramics: A review. J Eur Ceram Soc. 2019;39:661–87.
18. Blok LG, Longana ML, Yu H, Woods BKS. An investigation into 3D printing of fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites. Addit Manuf. 2018;22:176–86.
19. Zarek M, Mansour N, Shapira S, Cohn D. 4D printing of shape memory-based personalized endoluminal medical devices. Macromol Rapid Commun. 2017;38:1600628.
20. Pop MA, Croitoru C, Bedo T, Geamăn V, Radomir I, Mihaela C, et al. Structural changes during 3D printing of bioderived and synthetic thermoplastic materials. J Appl Polym Sci. 2019;136:47382.
21. Chen CC, Ng HY, Lou CW, Chen YS, Chen YW, Shie MY. Additive manufacturing of nerve decellularized extracellular matrix-contained polyurethane conduits for peripheral nerve regeneration. Polymers (Basel). 2019;11:1612.
22. van Rees WM, Matsumoto EA, Gladman AS, Lewis JA, Mahadevan L. Mechanics of biomimetic 4D printed structures. Soft Matter. 2018;14:8771–9.
23. Ge Q, Dunn CK, Qi HJ, Dunn ML. Active origami by 4D printing. Smart Mater Struct. 2014;23:094007.
24. Kshad MAE, D’Hondt C, Naguib HE. Carbon nanofibers reinforced composites origami inspired mechanical metamaterials with passive and active properties. Smart Mater Struct. 2017;26:105039.
25. Kuang X, et al. Advances in 4D printing: Materials and applications. Adv Funct Mater. 2019;29:1805290.
26. Zhou LY, Fu J, He Y. A review of 3D printing technologies for soft polymer materials. Adv Funct Mater. 2020;30:2000187.
27. Ge Q, et al. Multimaterial 4D printing with tailorable shape memory polymers. Sci Rep. 2016;6:1–11.
28. Peppas NA, Merrill EW. Crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels as swollen elastic networks. J Appl Polym Sci. 1977;21:1763–70.
29. Li J, Mooney DJ. Designing hydrogels for controlled drug delivery. Nat Rev Mater. 2016;1:16071.
30. Shi Q, Liu H, Tang D, Li Y, Li X, Xu F. Bioactuators based on stimulus-responsive hydrogels and their emerging biomedical applications. NPG Asia Mater. 2019;11:64.
31. Andersson M, Axelsson A, Zacchi G. Swelling kinetics of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) gel. J Control Release. 1998;50:273–81.
32. Li Z, Shen J, Ma H, Lu X, Shi M, Li N, Ye M. Preparation and characterization of pH- and temperature-responsive nanocomposite double network hydrogels. Mater Sci Eng C. 2013;33:1951–7.
33. Ding M, Jing L, Yang H, Machnicki C, Fu X, Li K, et al. Multifunctional soft machines based on stimuli responsive hydrogels: From freestanding hydrogels to smart integrated systems. Mater Today Adv. 2020;8:100088.
34. Sun S, Mak AF. The dynamical response of a hydrogel fiber to electrochemical stimulation. J Polym Sci B Polym Phys. 2001;39:236–46.
35. Hirai T, Nemoto H, Hirai M, Hayashi S. Electrostriction of highly swollen polymer gel: Possible application for gel actuator. J Appl Polym Sci. 1994;53:79–84.
36. Merino S, Martin C, Kostarelos K, Prato M, Vazquez E. Nanocomposite hydrogels: 3D polymer–nanoparticle synergies for on-demand drug delivery. ACS Nano. 2015;9:4686–97.
37. Spiegel CA, Hackner M, Bothe VP, Spatz JP, Blasco E. Functional living materials: 4D printed soft matter for advanced healthcare applications. Adv Funct Mater. 2022;32:2110580.
38. Gao B, Yang Q, Zhao X, Jin G, Ma Y, Xu F. 4D bioprinting for biomedical applications. Trends Biotechnol. 2016;34:746–56.
39. Zhu W, Webster TJ, Zhang LG. 3D printing of nanomaterials for tissue engineering applications. Nanomedicine (Lond). 2019;14:1643–57.
40. Díaz-Payno PJ, Kalogeropoulou M, Muntz I, King E, Kops N, D’Este M, et al. 4D printed scaffolds with biomimetic viscoelasticity for cartilage tissue engineering. Adv Healthc Mater. 2022;12:2201891.
41. Gao B, Yang Q, Zhao X, Jin G, Ma Y, Xu F. 4D bioprinting for biomedical applications. Trends Biotechnol. 2016;34:746–56.
42. Qu G, Huang J, Li Z, Jiang Y, Liu Y, Chen K, et al. Recent advances in 4D bioprinting for biomedical applications. Mater Today Bio. 2022;16:100363.
43. Stoeckel D, Pelton A, Duerig T. Self-expanding nitinol stents: Material and design considerations. Eur Radiol. 2004;14:292–301.
44. Tran TS, Balu R, Mettu S, Choudhury NR, Dutta NK. Advances in 4D printing technologies for smart drug delivery: A review. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2022;15:1282.
45. Yang Q, Gao B, Xu F. Recent advances in 4D bioprinting. Biotechnol J. 2020;15:1900086.
46. Hendrikson WJ, Rouwkema J, Clementi F, van Blitterswijk CA, Farè S, Moroni L. Towards 4D printing in biofabrication: Current developments, challenges and future perspectives. Biofabrication. 2017;9:031001.
47. Yarahmadi M, Barcelona P, Fargas G, Xuriguera E, Roa JJ. Additive manufacturing of ceramics: A review. Ceram Int. 2022;48:4775–90.
48. Jana S, Levengood SKL, Zhang M. Anisotropic materials for skeletal-muscle-tissue engineering. Adv Mater. 2016;28:10588–612.

Trends in Drug Delivery
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 03 |
| Received | 18/06/2025 |
| Accepted | 07/07/2025 |
| Published | 01/08/2025 |
| Publication Time | 44 Days |
Login
PlumX Metrics