Swiss scientists have developed textile fibers that can be loaded up with just about any drug, then used to dispense that medication precisely where it's needed in the body. The fibers could be utilized in sutures or bandages, or even just implanted on their own.
One of the problems with taking pharmaceuticals orally or via injections lies in the fact that the medication ends up traveling throughout the bloodstream.
This means that a relatively high dosage is required in order to ensure that enough of the drug reaches its target destination. And the higher the dose, the more likely the medication is to cause unwanted side effects – particularly when it travels to parts of the body where it isn't even needed.
With such drawbacks in mind, researcher Edith Perret and colleagues at Switzerland's Empa institute set out to develop a new-and-improved method of targeted drug delivery. The result is the drug-loaded "liquid-core fibers" (LiCoFs).
The hollow fibers are manufactured in a process known as melt spinning, and are composed of a biocompatible, biodegradable polymer called polycaprolactone (which is already utilized in other medical applications).
As the "liquid-core" in their name implies, the fibers get filled with pharmaceuticals which are in liquid form. These could include antibiotics, painkillers, anti-inflammatories or possibly even insulin.
If the medication isn't sensitive to heat, it can be added to the fiber during the melt spinning process. On the other hand, if the drug can't be subjected to heat, the fiber can be spun with a temporary placeholder material in its core. The medication is then swapped for that material in a subsequent process.
As long as the pharmaceutical's molecules are small enough, they will gradually dissipate through the porous walls of the fiber once it's placed in the body. Should the medication have larger molecules, they will instead slowly leak out of the two open ends of the fiber.
In either case, the rate at which the drug is released can by tweaked by altering the fiber's thickness, crystal structure or other characteristics. The fiber itself will eventually harmlessly dissolve.
Working with a commercial partner, Perret and her team have demonstrated that the LiCoFs could be economically manufactured on an industrial scale. The first real-world use of the technology will likely be in antibiotic-loaded sutures, for use on both external and internal wounds.
The research is described in a paper that was recently published in the journal Polymer.
Source: Empa
