A review on the applications of hydrogels in tissue engineering

Polymeric scaffolds have many different functions in the field of tissue engineering. They are applied as three-dimensional structures that organize cells and present stimuli to direct the formation of a desired tissue. Scaffolds have been used for tissue engineering such as bone, cartilage, ligament, skin, vascular tissues, neural tissues, and skeletal muscle and as vehicle for the controlled delivery of drugs, proteins, and DNA. Hydrogels, three-dimensional networks of hydrophilic polymers, are able to swell large amounts of water. They have great potential to resemble the physical characteristics of soft and hard tissues. Hydrogels in the form of scaffold are structurally similar to the extracellular matrix of many tissues, can often be prcocessed under relatively mild conditions, and may be delivered in a minimally invasive manner. Hydrogel materials also generally exhibit high permeability and good biocompatibility, making these materials attractive to use in cell encapsulation and tissue engineering applications. Hydrogels have many different applications in the field of regenerative medicine. Biodegradable and injectable hydrogels could be utilized as delivery systems, cell carriers, and tissue engineering applications. This article summarizes the recent progress in the design and synthesis of hydrogels as tissue-engineering scaffolds. In this review, the biocompatibility of hydrogels and design criteria for fabricating effective scaffolds are presented. Examples of natural and synthetic hydrogels, their biocompatibility and application in tissue engineering are discussed

Keywords:

Tissue engineering , Scaffold , Hydrogel