People who take pills for chronic diseases face schedules that would give an air-traffic controller pause: one kind of medication three times daily with meals, for instance, a second mid-morning and mid-afternoon, and a third at bedtime, as well as several others at various hours.

Michael Cima, a professor in MIT's department of materials science and engineering, has found a way to use computerized printing technology to simplify the lives of people who must follow these regimens. He and Emanuel Sachs, a professor in the department of mechanical engineering, have created a process that impresses layer upon layer of materials to yield three-dimensional objects with intricate internal structures. Cima believes the technology could make it possible to develop single pills that deliver a variety of specific doses of medicine at planned intervals. The pharmaceutical company Therics, of Princeton, N.J., has secured the exclusive license to commercialize "3-D drug printing" and is sponsoring Cima's research on it.