College
College of Engineering
Mentor Information
Ridita Khan
Description
Chronic wounds continue to present a significant clinical challenge due to delayed healing, persistent inflammation, and the high risk of infection, creating an urgent need for advanced therapeutic strategies beyond conventional wound dressings. Electrospinning has emerged as a powerful and scalable fabrication technique for developing nanofibrous scaffolds that mimic the native extracellular matrix (ECM) while serving as localized drug delivery platforms. The unique structural characteristics of electrospun nanofibers, including their high surface-area-to-volume ratio, interconnected porosity, and tunable fiber morphology, enable efficient loading, protection, and controlled release of therapeutic agents, promoting a favorable healing environment. In this study, biocompatible and biodegradable biopolymer solutions were electrospun to fabricate nanofibrous scaffolds as a foundational platform for localized drug delivery in wound healing applications. Electrospinning parameters were optimized to produce continuous fibers with a porous architecture suitable for future therapeutic loading. The fabricated scaffolds were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to evaluate fiber morphology and scaffold uniformity, while Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was employed to examine the chemical composition and confirm the preservation of characteristic functional groups following electrospinning. The successful fabrication and characterization of the electrospun biopolymer scaffolds demonstrate their potential as multifunctional wound dressings capable of sustained drug delivery while providing structural support for tissue regeneration. Future work will focus on incorporating therapeutic agents, investigating controlled drug release kinetics, and evaluating the biological performance of drug-loaded scaffolds through in vitro and in vivo wound healing studies.
Exploring Biopolymer Nanofibrous Scaffolds for Wound Healing Applications
Chronic wounds continue to present a significant clinical challenge due to delayed healing, persistent inflammation, and the high risk of infection, creating an urgent need for advanced therapeutic strategies beyond conventional wound dressings. Electrospinning has emerged as a powerful and scalable fabrication technique for developing nanofibrous scaffolds that mimic the native extracellular matrix (ECM) while serving as localized drug delivery platforms. The unique structural characteristics of electrospun nanofibers, including their high surface-area-to-volume ratio, interconnected porosity, and tunable fiber morphology, enable efficient loading, protection, and controlled release of therapeutic agents, promoting a favorable healing environment. In this study, biocompatible and biodegradable biopolymer solutions were electrospun to fabricate nanofibrous scaffolds as a foundational platform for localized drug delivery in wound healing applications. Electrospinning parameters were optimized to produce continuous fibers with a porous architecture suitable for future therapeutic loading. The fabricated scaffolds were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to evaluate fiber morphology and scaffold uniformity, while Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was employed to examine the chemical composition and confirm the preservation of characteristic functional groups following electrospinning. The successful fabrication and characterization of the electrospun biopolymer scaffolds demonstrate their potential as multifunctional wound dressings capable of sustained drug delivery while providing structural support for tissue regeneration. Future work will focus on incorporating therapeutic agents, investigating controlled drug release kinetics, and evaluating the biological performance of drug-loaded scaffolds through in vitro and in vivo wound healing studies.
