Can polymer fibres change the way we treat wounds?
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These drug-containing fibres deliver medications where they’re needed, without affecting the rest of the body
Spotted: In wound care, there are clear advantages to treating the injury locally – the active ingredient reaches its target immediately, and there are no negative side effects on other parts of the body. However, conventional local administration methods can’t deliver precise doses of active ingredients over a long period of time.
To address this, a team from the Advanced Fibers laboratory at the Swiss Federal Materials Testing and Research Laboratories at ETH (Empa), led by Edith Perret, is developing novel medical fibres.
The fibres are made from a polymer that encloses a liquid core containing therapeutic ingredients. The fibres can be used as surgical suture material, wound dressings, and textile implants and can administer painkillers, antibiotics, or medicines such as insulin precisely over longer periods.
The “drug-eluting liquid-core fibres” (LiCoFs) developed at Empa represent a significant advancement in medical fibre technology. Perret told Springwise that the new fibres offer significant benefits, including enhanced drug loading, sustained drug release, localised delivery, and reduced side effects. The LiCoFs also maintain their mechanical strength and flexibility, allowing them to be processed into medical textiles through weaving or knitting.
As well as personalised wound treatments, according to Perret, other areas of advancement could include: “Drug delivery systems (…) tissue engineering [to create] materials for regenerative medicine and tissue repair, wound dressing, developing advanced materials for more accurate and rapid diagnostic tools, and combatting antimicrobial resistance.”
Together with a Swiss industrial partner, the Empa team has already successfully demonstrated that this process can work on an industrial scale and Perret now seeks further funding opportunities for her research on drug-eluting liquid-core fibres.
Written By: Lisa Magloff