A radial 1D finite element for drug release from drug loaded nanofibers

The aim of this study was to investigate the release performance of an electrospun composite drug loaded nanofiber mat. Electrospun nanofiber mats are promising as drug carriers which offer site-specific delivery of drugs to a target in the human body and may be used for cancer therapy. The authors have formulated a simple radial 1D finite element, which is used to model diffusion within fibers releasing a drug to the surrounding medium discretized by continuum 3D finite elements. The numerical model includes degradation effects and hydrophobicity at the fibers/surroundings interface. For the purpose of experimental investigation, a poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) implant has been created at the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade. The radial 1D element provides accurate predictions of the diffusion process and serves as an efficient tool for describing transport inside the polymer fiber and surrounding porous medium; which is illustrated through numerical examples.