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Thermally drawn biodegradable fibers with tailored topography for biomedical applications
Author(s) -
Farajikhah Syamak,
Runge Antoine F. J.,
Boumelhem Badwi B.,
Rukhlenko Ivan D.,
Stefani Alessio,
Sayyar Sepidar,
Innis Peter C.,
Fraser Stuart T.,
Fleming Simon,
Large Maryanne C. J.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part b: applied biomaterials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.665
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1552-4981
pISSN - 1552-4973
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.b.34739
Subject(s) - interfacing , polycaprolactone , materials science , cladding (metalworking) , biodegradable polymer , tissue engineering , fabrication , optical fiber , neural tissue engineering , nanotechnology , polymer , fiber , composite material , biomedical engineering , computer science , engineering , medicine , telecommunications , alternative medicine , pathology , computer hardware
There is a growing demand for polymer fiber scaffolds for biomedical applications and tissue engineering. Biodegradable polymers such as polycaprolactone have attracted particular attention due to their applicability to tissue engineering and optical neural interfacing. Here we report on a scalable and inexpensive fiber fabrication technique, which enables the drawing of PCL fibers in a single process without the use of auxiliary cladding. We demonstrate the possibility of drawing PCL fibers of different geometries and cross‐sections, including solid‐core, hollow‐core, and grooved fibers. The solid‐core fibers of different geometries are shown to support cell growth, through successful MCF‐7 breast cancer cell attachment and proliferation. We also show that the hollow‐core fibers exhibit a relatively stable optical propagation loss after submersion into a biological fluid for up to 21 days with potential to be used as waveguides in optical neural interfacing. The capacity to tailor the surface morphology of biodegradable PCL fibers and their non‐cytotoxicity make the proposed approach an attractive platform for biomedical applications and tissue engineering.