Different novel wet spinning technologies allow the exact control of the different processing parameters to steer the fiber properties and thus develop complex multimaterial and hybrid fibers. For example, with the electrospinning technology, nanofibers with controlled geometry and surface structure can be developed by defining the polymer solution and processing environment parameters. These smart fibers can be used for medical applications such as drug delivery systems or fiber-based sensors for the monitoring of vital signs or chemical biomarkers. These fibers are intended to be integrated into medical textiles that can be used for unattended monitoring of patients.

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Bio

René Rossi studied applied physics at the University of Neuchâtel and obtained his PhD at ETH Zurich. Since 2003, he has been leading the Laboratory for Biomimetic Membranes and Textiles at Empa, a group of around 40 researchers developing novel smart fibers, textiles and membranes for body monitoring, drug delivery and tissue engineering applications. A special focus is to develop physical and numerical skin/body models for the analysis of the interactions between materials and the human skin to optimize the protection and ergonomics of systems. René Rossi is adjunct professor at the Department of Health Sciences and Technology at ETH Zurich and invited professor at the University of Haute-Alsace in Mulhouse/France.