Electrospun Drug-Loaded PLA fibers for Wound Dressings

Electrospinning is a technique that is widely used to produce continuous non-woven polymeric fibers that can be used in various biomedical applications. In this study, we electrospun biocompatible and biodegradable poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fibers for a wound dressing application. Acetylsalicylic acid or aspirin (ASA), a hydrophilic small molecule drug, is incorporated into the PLA fibers at 15wt% loading, tripling the loading capacity of wound dressings that are currently available on the market. The goal of this research is to correlate the physico-mechanical properties, the drug loading and the drug release rates of the ASA-loaded PLA fibers. Our work will provide valuable information on the fabrication of drug-loaded PLA fibers suitability for the application as a wound dressing material.