Polymer fiber-based biocomposites for medical sensing applications

Polymers and sensors are two scientific fields widespread in daily life, for example, in technical or medical applications, offering new functionalities. The use of biopolymers is increasing in medical applications due to their biocompatibility and resorbability properties. Biopolymers can be used in filament form (e.g., for surgical sutures); as textile structures (gauzes, bandages, wipes, wound cares, medical clothing, diapers, etc.); as braids (sutures, ligaments, stents, braided cables, biomedical tubes, etc.); and also as composite structures (bone support, implants, etc.). Fiber-optical sensors enable distributed, continuous and destruction-free sensing. Many fiber-optical sensors rely on optical grating structures in glass. However, glass cannot be used in most biomedical applications due to security reasons. Polymer-optical fibers provide an ideal alternative for fiber-optical sensing structures due to their inherent robustness, mechanical properties such as elasticity or biocompatibility and because of their low cost. These fibers can be easily integrated into textile structures as explained above, but also into tissues or other biocomposite materials. This integration adds functionality to fabric, making it useful for multiple purposes. Simple examples include elastic bandages, where changes in the pressure can be continuously monitored by fiber-optical sensors. Furthermore, fiber-optical sensors can also be used in the monitoring of respiratory systems, heart rate, body temperature, healing in covered wounds, endoscopic applications, etc., when integrated into medical textiles for patients. In this chapter, we give an overview of some biopolymers and their integration into composites for biomedical sensing in different medical applications, that is, fiber-optical composites and structures, hygiene textiles, sensor-integrated medical clothing, etc.