A Review of Developments in Electrospinning Technology: New Opportunities for the Design of Artificial Tissue Structures

Abstract

It describes selected technical developments in electrospinning related to the production of non-woven fiber scaffolds and their implications in the design of artificial tissue structures. Specifically, it describes techniques for the production of aligned fiber structures, multilayered, multiscaled and multifiber scaffolds, fiber modification and functionalization, and useful advances in process control. It also presents technical sketches showing in detail how to implement the techniques presented into electrospinning equipment setups. Finally, it discusses remaining limitations that pertain to the design of scaffold materials.

Dipyridamole embedded in Polycaprolactone fibers prepared by coaxial electrospinning as a novel drug delivery system

“…Over the last decade, electrospinning has received worldwide attention in the biomedical research community as a cutting-edge technology for the fabrication of scaffold materials in the microand nanoscale [1]. Electrospinning involves the application of an electrical field to generate polymeric non-woven fiber mats from polymeric blends, melts or emulsions.…”

Advent and Maturation of Regenerative Medicine

“…Table 19.5 lists various processing approaches to formulate these scaffolds, but detailed descriptions of each of these processes are beyond the scope of this review. Nonetheless, it is worthwhile to mention the production of nanofiber scaffolds via electrospinning because more and more innovative scaffolds are being created using this method because it provides better biocompatibility, mechanical properties, porosity, permeability, and environment-specific compatibility [84][85][86].…”

Solving Biocompatibility Layer by Layer: Designing Scaffolds for Tissues

“…Tissue engineering, using cell-seeded scaffolds prepared by methods like salt leaching, directional solidification or electrospinning ( fig. 2), is a promising way to overcome this limitation [3]. In order to screen such scaffolds for vascular tissue engineering, standard test methods were successfully adapted to highly porous structures.…”