Edwards J. Vincent et al. Modified Fibers with Medical and Specialty Applications

Springer Science & Business Media, 2006. — 240 p.The initial impetus for this book on fibers originated from a weeklong symposium where scientists of a variety of walks met to discuss their work on ?bers with medical and specialty applications. Seeing the benefits of sharing information across disparate fields and disciplines of science we realized the potential for cross-fertilization of ideas between different area of fiber science. Thus, represented here are a variety of potential product lines under the cover of a single book, which for the imaginative scientist we hope will lead to some new food for thought. The fields of medical and specialty fibers include a wide array of natural and synthetic textiles, medical devices, and specialty paper and wood products. Research in these areas has become more interesting to scientists who are seeking to strike out in new directions based on an impulse to create new products that meet the unmet needs of rapidly growing fiber markets in wound care, prosthetic, and cellulosic arenas. It is hoped that providing new concepts and approaches to working with different types of fibrous materials willgivethereadersomepulseofthecurrentclimateandresearchopportunities of medical and specialty fibers. Breakthroughs into a better understanding of wound healing, biomaterial design, fiber surface chemistry and bio- and nanotechnologies are currently providing the impetus to create the fiber products of the future. The editors feel that a book of this type would be remiss without discussions of the impact interdisciplinary scientific pursuits are having on fiber design.