U. WASHINGTON (US) — Scientists have developed an electrically spun cloth with nanometer-sized fibers that can simultaneously prevent HIV and offer contraception.
As reported in PLOS ONE, the cloth can dissolve to release drugs, providing a platform for cheap, discrete, and reversible protection.
“Our dream is to create a product women can use to protect themselves from HIV infection and unintended pregnancy,” says corresponding author Kim Woodrow, assistant professor of bioengineering. “We have the drugs to do that. It’s really about delivering them in a way that makes them more potent, and allows a woman to want to use it.”
Electrospinning uses an electric field to catapult a charged fluid jet through air to create very fine, nanometer-scale fibers. The fibers can be manipulated to control the material’s solubility, strength, and even geometry. Because of this versatility, fibers may be better at delivering medicine than existing technologies such as gels, tablets, or pills. Read full article.
