Microstructured Biodegradable Fibers for Advanced Control Delivery

Abstract

Biodegradable polymers are increasingly employed at the heart of therapeutic devices. Particularly in the form of thin and elongated fibers, they offer an effective strategy for controlled release in a variety of biomedical configurations such as sutures, scaffolds, wound dressings, surgical or imaging probes, and smart textiles. So far however, the fabrication of fiber-based drug delivery systems has been unable to fulfill significant requirements of medicated fibers such as multifunctionality, adequate mechanical strength, drug loading capability, and complex release profiles of multiple substances. Here, a novel paradigm in the design and fabrication of microstructured biodegradable fibers with tailored mechanical properties and capable of predefined release patterns from multiple reservoirs is proposed. Different biodegradable polymers compatible with the scalable thermal drawing process are identified, and their release properties as thin films of various thicknesses in the fiber form are experimentally investigated and modeled. Multimaterial microstructured fibers with predictable complex release profiles of potentially different substances are then designed and fabricated. Moreover, the tunability of the mechanical properties via tailoring the drawing process parameters is demonstrated, as well as the ability to weave such fibers. This work establishes a novel platform for biodegradable microstructured fibers for applications in implants, sutures, wound dressing, or tissue scaffolds.

Flexible and stretchable polymer optical fibers for chronic brain and vagus nerve optogenetic stimulations in free-behaving animals

“…In this work, the Young’s modulus of our POF is similar to that of biological tissues, which is four orders of magnitude lower than that of the conventional SOFs (~10 GPa). The strain at break of the POFs is higher than 150%, implying a superior stretchability compared to the reported polymer-based optical implants for in vivo optogenetics [ 29 , 36 ]. In addition, we did not observe noticeable cracks or significant influence on the output power of the POFs after repeated 100% stretching deformation, which implies an excellent mechanical stability of the fabricated optical waveguides [ 37 – 39 ].…”

Challenges in the Fabrication of Biodegradable and Implantable Optical Fibers for Biomedical Applications

“…Very recently, S. Shadman et al [ 57 ] developed specialty optical fibers consisting of poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PDLGA) combined with PMMA and poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL). The biocompatible fibers were also fabricated by thermal drawing from preforms, and the obtained fibers were available in various shapes, such as rectangular, cylindrical, core-shell, and multi-material planar waveguides with channels placed on the sides of the structure, to permit incorporation within biodegradable polymers.…”

Recent Progress of Nanogenerators Acting as Self‐Powered Drug Delivery Devices

“…employed biodegradable poly( d , l ‐lactic‐ co ‐glycolic acid) (PLGA) fibers formed by thermal drawing process for sustainable release of FITC‐labeled dextran. [ 9 ] In the same year, Zhong et al. presented a biodegradable spirulina platensis ( S.plantensis ) based target DDS, which had been used to deliver doxorubicin (DOX) for breast cancer therapy and imaging in vivo.…”