Medical technology that blocks the fallopian tubes nonsurgically could increase access to permanent
contraception and address current unmet needs in family planning. To achieve total occlusion of the fallopian tube via
scar tissue formation, acute
trauma to the tubal epithelium must first occur followed by a sustained and ultimately fibrotic inflammatory response. Here, we developed drug-eluting fiber-based microparticles that provide tunable dose and release of potent
sclerosing agents. This fabrication strategy demonstrates high encapsulation of physicochemically diverse agents and the potential for scalable manufacturing by utilizing free-surface electrospinning to generate material for fiber micronization. Manipulation of nanofiber formulation such as drug loading, drug hydrophobicity,
polymer hydrophobicity, and crystallinity allowed for modulation of the sustained release properties of our fiber microparticles. We assessed various fibrous microparticle formulations in vivo using a newly developed and validated guinea pig model for
contraception. We found that fiber microparticles with bolus release
doxycycline effectively elicited acute
trauma and those formulated with highly loaded phenyl
benzoate caused sustained
inflammation in the target organs. The demonstrated potency of these electrospun microparticles, as well as their embolic size and shape, suggests potential for proximal agglomeration and inflammatory activity in the fallopian tubes following transcervical delivery.