Injectable and biodegradable hydrogels: gelation, biodegradation and biomedical applications

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Polymer Chemistry
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Injectable biodegradable hydrogels enable minimally invasive biomedical applications like drug delivery and cell encapsulation.
• Their in situ formability ensures homogeneous encapsulation and convenient surgical operations with reduced patient trauma.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review recent progress in biodegradable and injectable hydrogels.
• To highlight novel hydrogels from natural and synthetic polymers developed in the last five years.
• To discuss the critical factors of gelation and biodegradation for biomedical applications.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature review of biodegradable and injectable hydrogels.
• Focus on hydrogels derived from natural polymers (e.g., chitosan, hyaluronic acid) and synthetic polymers (e.g., polypeptides, polyesters).
• Analysis of recent advancements in structural controllability via chemical modification.

Main Results:

• Summarized recent progress on biodegradable and injectable hydrogels from natural and synthetic polymers.
• Highlighted novel naturally based hydrogels with enhanced biocompatibility and structural controllability.
• Emphasized the importance of gelation and biodegradation for cell fate and drug delivery.

Conclusions:

• Biodegradable injectable hydrogels are promising for diverse biomedical applications.
• Recent innovations integrate natural polymer biocompatibility with synthetic polymer tunability.
• Future research directions for these advanced hydrogels were presented.