Core-Sheath Fibers for Regenerative Medicine

The history of fibers in biomedical sciences is not novel. However, the discovery of degradable polymers and advancement in fiber formation technology has ameliorated the regenerative medicine. Fiber-coated implants, synthetic sutures, and tissue engineering scaffolds are some of the best examples of biomedical fiber technology. In the last two decades, electrospinning has emerged as one of the potential techniques for large-scale production of nanofibers. Because of their inherent appearance similar to the natural extracellular matrix, electrospun fibrous meshes exhibit widespread applications in tissue engineering and drug delivery applications. Further modification in this technique such as co-electrospinning has enabled the fabrication of core/sheath nanofibers. Single step production, multi-component loading capability, and fiber fabrication from non-spinnable materials are the major advantages making co-axial electrospinning versatile enough for various biomedical applications. Therefore this chapter will enlighten concerning the fabrication of core-sheath nanofibers and its applications in regenerative medicine.