IN THE FUTURE, WILL WE BE POPPIN' 'PRINTLETS'?
Generally speaking, 3D printing (also known as 'additive manufacturing') is a computerised process that allows you to print a physical object from a 3D digital model, by putting down material layer by layer. Objects that have been printed out to date include, selfies, penises and occasionally even useful things, such as artificial coral, houses, and now, tablets.
While 3D printers have already been used successfully in medical applications - particularly in terms of creating accurate models of patients' organs to aid complex surgical procedures, as just one example - the foray into printing pills has, until fairly recently, remained just a promising idea that could lead to the production of bespoke tablet sizes and dosages. In 2015, The US Food and Drug Administration approved the first (and currently only) 3D-printed medicine, Spritam, to control seizures brought on by epilepsy and since then, many pharmaceutical companies are now exploring the idea of 3D printing; including University College London's, 'FabRx' start-up company, which hopes to commercialise their own version of 3D-printed tablets, or 'Printlets.'
FabRx believe that "the future of medicine is 3D", and for good reason. 3D-printing is perfectly in-keeping with the growing trend towards personalised medicine (i.e. determined by genomics) and may be more effective than traditional methods of drug manufacturing. Current technology produces tablets at an astonishing 1.6 million tablets per hour and although the figure is impressive, it doesn't necessarily speak to widespread effectiveness, with one issue being that dosages are often geared towards adult physiology. For example, in the event a child needs to take a dosage of Hydrocortisone, the tablet itself has to be cut up to reduce accordingly to a safe dosage for children and in breaking up the tablet itself it is possible to effect the active ingredient, therefore reducing the effectiveness of the medicine. As a result, many believe the answer lies in the 3D printing and the production of bespoke tablets, sized to suit and containing the exact dosage required.
While in the medium-term it seems unlikely that 3D-printed tablets could compete with traditional drug manufacturing processes, research continues to make strides, with FabRx having recently been awarded funding to develop a 3D printer which will produce printlets in a hospital pharmacy setting. And the potential in terms of settings doesn't stop there. Imagine if patients could print off their treatments at home by purchasing the chemical ink and the relevant digital blueprint for the drug using their prescription, or how a 3D-printer could be used in war zones, or even in off-world settings by astronauts in space? The potential to do good with 3D-printing is exponential, for when ya'll through with the quest to print the perfect penis. 
