Functional design of traditional hollow fibers: opening up a second life of being a medical drug delivery carrier

Fiber technology has stepped into an essential position in the textile industry. It is forecasted that smart textiles will keep on developing constantly and vigorously. Having a convenient drug delivery system for treating various illnesses and bacterial infections is always in demand. Hollow fibers, which consist of a hollow structure and exceptional characteristics, such as high loading capacity and high surface reactivity, have been considerably used in medical equipment. A pilot study was performed in this paper for opening up environmentally friendly, convenient and repeatable drug delivery functions of industrial, ready-made hollow fibers for sustainable development in various aspects. The hollow fiber drug delivery system of this project is believed to tackle the challenges observed from the traditional drug delivery system, which include the following: (1) replacement of one-time delivery by repeatable drug loading and releasing; (2) loading complex drugs, such as in Chinese medicine; (3) using co...