Properties of Electrospun Fibers That Influence Foreign Body Response Modulation

Improving the utility of biomedical devices implanted in subcutaneous tissue by modulating the innate immune response common to these implants is of great interest to improve their utility. Uncontrolled, most biomedical devices produce an immune reaction known broadly as the foreign body response (FBR), which ultimately isolates the device from the native tissue. The use of electrospun fibers to create a porous surface that promotes tissue in-growth and regeneration represents a new paradigm in FBR modulation. A vast number of parameters can be adjusted in the electrospinning process to tune the type and quality of the resulting electrospun matrix, which in turn has varying outcomes with respect to the FBR. In this review, the fabrication and utility of electrospun fiber scaffolds for mitigating the FBR are described, with details of how fiber properties and surface modifications alter immune response for specific biomedical applications.